REALITY BITES
With Palang Kasmi
In order to spur people with social initiatives and innovations to come up with ideas that will have a great impact at the community and global levels, a mentoring forum was recently organised in Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria.
The one-day event, tagged, ‘Roundtable for Changemakers and Social Innovators’, took place on February 6, 2026, at the American Space, No. 21 Murtala Mohammed Way, Jos, Plateau State.
The roundtable was jointly convened by YALI RLC North Central, with support from the Nigerian-based Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), Girls Education Mission (GEM) International, attracting youth, different organisations, social innovators, changemakers, and development experts at national and international levels, including partners from the Plateau State Universal Basic Education Board (PSUBEB), among others.
According to the organisers, the Change Makers Roundtable was aimed at spurring participants in Plateau State towards solutions for social change, and to expand their social interventions beyond borders. There was also an engaging participatory peer-learning session designed to exchange ideas, share practical insights and build strong networks at the one-day interactive forum.
Why the roundtable matters
In a vision-filled keynote address by Dr. Nosayaba Tukura, National President of the United States Government Exchange Alumni Association of Nigeria (USGEAAN), participants were tasked to ensure their social initiatives stem from, and have a direct impact on, their communities.
Tukura, who is also a physicist, ICT strategist, development expert and gender and women scholar, disclosed that the gathering was hinged on the popular ‘Ayni’ philosophy of reciprocity, which stresses the phrase: “Today for you, tomorrow for me.”
She explained that the philosophy expresses the understanding that individual well-being is inseparable from the health of a community.
“That when we give, we set in motion a circle that strengthens every circle it touches,” she pointed out.
The gender expert stated that aside from the Ayni philosophy, social innovation does not happen in isolation but in relationships and communities, especially when people decide that no one should be left behind in terms of social inclusion and development.
Tukura disclosed that her organisation, USGEAAN, which has moved from exchange to impact, is a non-partisan network of over 14,000 Nigerian alumni of US government-funded exchange programmes, present across the 36 states of Nigeria and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), harnessing collective expertise for national development through community-led interventions.
She further noted that beneficiaries across the country are applying the skills they learnt through exchange programmes to strengthen institutions, expand civic participation and drive community-led impact.
Tukura said she was proud to have emerged as the first-ever USGEAAN National President from Plateau State, which she described as a testament to the depth of leadership talent in the state.
She described Nigeria as a nation full of ideas, passion and young talents, but lamented the lack of an ecosystem and sustainable support structures that help a good vision survive beyond its first year.
“That is why the organisers have chosen to focus not just on inspiration but on the hard infrastructure of change like consultancy, technical assistance, internship opportunities and peer learning,” she said.
She added that GEM International holds special consultative status with the United Nations (UN) Economic and Social Council, commending its strategic work with PSUBEB in breaking down barriers that prevent girls from attaining their full educational potential.
The USGEAAN President encouraged participants, saying that to scale any idea, her organisation is committed to creating structured mentorship and connecting alumni experts with social innovators and young entrepreneurs across the North Central region and beyond.
“So our alumni include experts in public policy, technology, education, health systems, agriculture, and governance. These resources should not sit idle; they should be deployed in the service of the next generation of changemakers,” Tukura said, calling for collaborative action using the Ayni principle.
Vision for community, global impact
Guest speaker, Ms. Cynthia Murugi Gicheru, an international award-winning consultant for social innovation from Kenya, delivered a visionary and practical presentation on how participants can grow small ideas into initiatives with global impact within their local communities.
Gicheru said through the Local Innovators Program (LIP), she consults with changemakers across Africa, Latin America and Asia, bringing them together to co-create solutions that drive system change around the world.
She disclosed that the programme has reached 13 local leaders in communities across 349 cities in 53 countries in Africa, presenting 294 projects and 73 initiatives highlighted in the marketplace.
According to her, over 2,000 citizens have been reached through the change network, while 15 initiatives have been replicated across different cities.
The international consultant explained that teams wishing to benefit from LIP must avail themselves for a six-month journey.
“What brings us together in the LIP, we have a journey of six months where we accompany these different teams. It is purely virtual with a little bit of in-person, where the teams engage the community to better understand their problem and to co-create with them the solution.
“We give facilitators that accompany all these teams, and after the programme, they are able to have a concrete initiative that serves the community, and we showcase it in what we call ‘The Marketplace’ and promote it through different networks,” Gicheru said.
She added that her organisation is currently recruiting social innovation ideas and initiatives, advising participants who want assistance in understanding their solutions or implementation process to enrol in the LIP six-month programme.
Beneficiaries share experiences, call for action
Narrating his experience, one of the beneficiaries of LIP, a teacher and facilitator, Davou Fiou Paul, who served as a government leader representing PSUBEB, said he was a key member of the design team for GEM’s global award-winning initiative, “The Girl Equation: Keeping Girls in Class.”
He said in this role, he contributed government perspective, policy alignment and system-level insights to the co-creation process, ensuring the initiative addressed real institutional, social and educational barriers affecting girls’ retention in school.
“When I was nominated to represent my office in the programme, I had a traditional mindset as a civil servant; we have a way of doing things.
“But when we stayed, the programme started changing my thinking and scope of seeing things. I began to think outside the box,” Paul said.
He added that the experience helped him gain skills in leadership, advancing gender-responsive education reforms, and commitment to inclusive, community-driven solutions within the public education system in Plateau State and Nigeria.
According to him, his participation strengthened collaboration between government, community innovators and development partners, translating grassroots solutions into scalable and sustainable education interventions.
Paul described the programme as cumbersome and challenging but said he braced up for the task, working like a development worker, becoming impact-sensitive and sowing a seed for positive change that future generations would benefit from.
He also expressed pride in being part of GEM’s success story, which earned first place at the 2025 Local Innovators Program, led by the Local Innovation Network (RIL).
Changemakers and young social innovators at the forum were not only inspired to submit initiatives that touch their communities and country, but were challenged to take a leap towards global visibility and impact.
Therefore, the one-day forum provided one-on-one mentoring opportunities between participants and globally recognised experts, while equally creating space for young innovators to connect with changemakers shaping Africa’s tomorrow.
Speaking at the forum, the Executive Director of GEM International, Mrs. Keturah Shammah, said her organisation was mentored by Ms. Gicheru to secure first place out of 84 teams and 51 initiatives that competed globally at the 2025 Local Innovators Programme.
Accepting that she has gained immensely from mentorship, Shammah, who is also the Regional Coordinator of the YALI Regional Leadership Center Alumni Association of Nigeria under the US Exchange Programme, tasked participants to avail themselves of similar opportunities.
“Murugi is in Nigeria to recruit teams… She has worked with teams across nine African countries, leading initiatives to become award-winning globally,” Shammah said.
She added that a similar mentoring event would take place in Abuja, Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory (FCT), to avail Nigerians the opportunity to scale through their social initiatives and innovations.
Highlights of the forum included the display of Kenyan dance steps led by facilitator Murugi, as well as the sharing of social initiatives and ideas by participants, with expectations of further engagements and consultations that will hatch and bring about future transformations in communities