The African Centre for Media & Information Literacy (AFRICMIL) in collaboration with the Centre for Critical Thinking and Resourceful Research in Africa (CECTRRA) and the Department of Philosophy, University of Abuja, organized two roundtables (on Tuesday, July 24 and Thursday, July 26, 2018, at the University of Abuja) on raising political consciousness among students in tertiary institutions in Nigeria. In a bid to remedy youth apathy in politics, the African Centre for Media and Information Literacy (AFRICMIL), in partnership with the Centre for Critical Thinking and Resourceful Research in Africa (CECTRRA) proposed political roundtables to raise political awareness among students in tertiary institutions.
Rosa Luxemburg Foundation (RLF) supported the programme, and the first beneficiaries were students of the University of Abuja.
Looking ahead, AFRICMIL plans take the political education classes to other tertiary institutions in the country to reinvent the political education philosophy of the 1970s and 80s that provided veritable platforms for students to engage one another and the society.
The aim of these classes, among others, is to help them understand that because they are linked to the larger society by family, marriage, friendship, religion, ethics, culture and history, they cannot pretend to be indifferent to the fate of the larger society. And that as young and active members of society, they have an historical role to not only challenge the current social order but to work to change it.
As the future of the country, students must be interested in the way the ruling class is mismanaging the country. As students, they are not excluded from the present socio-political and economic problems of the country. Therefore, they have a responsibility to organize the people, raise their consciousness, educate and mobilize them to participate in the political, economic and social processes of the country. Each roundtable will provide space for serious political and ideological engagement and help participants to make contributions relevant to promoting emancipatory, anti-imperial and counter-hegemonic perspectives on social transformation in Nigeria.
The outcome of the roundtables will be put together as a booklet for further education and political engagement. We hope to also work with participants to start Political Education Clubs (PECs) on campuses to further deepen the outcome of this engagement.
