Unveiling Africa Foundation Nation Building Project

The Unveiling Africa Foundation (UVA) is a youth led non-profit organization founded in 2006 by Chizoba Imoka. UVA seeks to contribute to the development of the African continent by harnessing the intellectual capital of Africans in the Diaspora while enhancing the educational experience and social development of the African child.

Unveiling Africa Foundation’s core focus in Nigeria is on supplementing youth education by promoting critical thinking and community activism amongst Nigeria’s secondary school students. It is our belief that Nigeria’s bright future is guaranteed in the hands of the upcoming generation which are the Nigerian children. To enable this generation deliver a bright future for Nigeria, we strongly believe that there is a need for the Nigerian child to be inducted into a culture of critical thinking, community activism and problem solving in their developmental years. Teenagers are defined as individuals between the age of 9 – 18 years or students in JSS1 – SSS3.

Our Nation Building Project in Nigeria will be rolled out in four main stages:

Nigeria – Step 1: Annual Essay Contest
Two essay contests targeting secondary school students in Lagos and surrounding areas is being organized and scheduled to launch on Children’s day – May 27, 2010. The titles of the essays are:

• Junior Secondary School: Nigeria at 50, Nigeria of my dreams.

• Senior Secondary School: What is the role of secondary school students in Nigeria’s development ?

This annual contest will serve as a vehicle to engage Nigerian teenagers on current issues in the society, in the continent and around the world while helping them develop skills in critical thinking, research and analysis and social activism. It is our hope that this exercise will also give us a snap shot of the educational problems/successes in Nigeria through student performances across public and private schools. Analysis of student performances may inform Unveiling Africa’s advocacy efforts in enhancing the quality of education in Nigeria.

Nigeria – Step 2: Annual Nigerian Teenager’s Symposium
Nigeria’s Independence Day – October 1, 2010 is scheduled to mark the official launch of Unveiling Africa Foundation Nigeria with a teenager’s nation building symposium on “The role of Nigeria’s secondary school students in Nigeria’s development”. This symposium will be held yearly and with the main focus on the Nigerian Teenagers. Any topic relevant to the Nigerian teenager’s development and integration into the society will be relevant to this symposium. The goal of this conference is to continuously engage the Nigerian teenager on social issues, promote social activism, promote civic participation, promote critical thinking, inspire the teenagers, celebrate them and continue to renew their passion for Nigeria and her development.

Nigeria – Step 3: Permanent School Clubs

Nigeria – Step 4: Educational Magazines and TV programming for teenagers
These four stages of the project make up the ‘Unveiling Africa Nation Building model’; it is our belief that the proper and adequate engagement (in and outside of school) of the Nigerian teenager is a recipe to producing future generations of Nigerians with the right values and skills required to lead and sustain the nation to a path of greatness.

Moving forward, the Nation Building model will be conducted in other Nigerian states.

The Unveiling Africa Foundation’s overall goal is to influence teenage Africans across the continent. Building upon the success and lesson learnt in Nigeria, UVA will expand to other African countries in the near future.