PROGRAMS AND EVENTS

American Corner Kaduna Hosts U.S. Embassy Counselor For Public Affairs  for  a program on  “The Power Of Citizen-Driven Development“

Date: July 30th 2007
Venue: Kaduna

CPAO Atim George delivering her lecture | Full size

Counselor for Public Affairs Atim George lectured on “The Power of Citizen-Driven Development,” or volunteerism, at the American Corner in Kaduna.  With a chant and hand jive of the acronym “AAACS” the Counselor for Public Affairs emphasized the importance of volunteerism in the development of any nation.  The acronym served to emphasize five important components of successful volunteerism including Association, Agency, Advocacy, Compassion and Sweat Equity.  She said “you don’t always need money from the donors, you can take the skills and the resources and the energy that you have and make a difference.”   

Her lecture was followed by comments from two discussants Rebecca Sako-John a recently returned Humphrey Fellow and Aisha Ibrahim of the Red Cross.  Both of them spoke of the need for Nigerians and especially the youth to be actively involved in governance and providing help in their communities.  This was followed by a very robust interactive session among the audience of civil society groups, academia, media and government agencies.  They called for more time and more of such programs in the future.  

In Kano the next day, the Counselor for Public Affairs participated in a live phone-in program on Freedom Radio where she again spoke of the importance of volunteerism.  Callers from different parts of the state asked questions including the role of the disabled in volunteerism and also how to get started.