My Nigeria. Your Nigeria? Whose Nigeria? Youth Leaders Roundtable on Reenvisioning the Nigeria identity.

My Nigeria. Your Nigeria? Whose Nigeria? Re-envisioning the Nigerian Identity through the eyes of young Nigerians

A roundtable Debate on 28th Independence Anniversary.

Roundtable Conversation convened as part of the festivities to celebrate our 58th independence anniversary, this expert roundtable debate brings together selected youth leaders, influencers and opinion leaders to discuss what it means to be Nigerian in this age and time. This conversation is conceptualized as an expert panel, with about 30 selected youths leaders invited in recognition of their exceptional contributions to Nigeria’s development across varieties of sectors and disciplines. We present a unique opportunity to debate our Nigerian identity within the context of leadership, political participation, entrepreneurship, peace and conflict etc.

Participants are invited to envision a new Nigeria by answering key questions such as what does it means to be Nigerian? What makes us Nigerian? Is it our heritage? Place of birth? Or identification and patriotism to the nation. Fifty-eight years after independence, is the Nigerian identity still alive, are we still living a Nigeria envisioned by the heroes of our independence. As young Nigerians, can we conceptualize a difference in ‘Nigeria’ – Nigeria lived by our parents, and ‘Naija’ – the Nigeria our generation have come to envision, a survival nation. The inputs and contributions from the expert session will be added as a chapter for the book a Nigeria for the Many: ideas and Conversations for Nigeria we desire. The meeting will be rounded up with a press briefing on the outcomes. Participants will also be asked to do a 3mins video blog on what it means to be Nigerian to them.

Convened as an expert session. All invited participants have a seat at the roundtable because of the uniqueness of their professional, civic, leadership and other achievements. They have been adjudged as having the substance to enrich the conversation, as such everyone will have equal opportunity to speak at the sessions.

To ensure that we have captured all the key issues and discussion points, the roundtable has been structured into three different discussion segments. With one hour allocated to each discussion area. A Conversation starter will lead each segment of the discussions by a way of providing background research and introductory overview of the debate direction, after which all delegates will have the opportunity to add their voices. Conversation Starter is a participant pre-assigned for this role, each discussion segment will have a different conversation starter. This meeting will be conducted under the Chatham House Rule.