EXCITING NEWS, KEMI IS LIVE 👏🏾🥰 Yesterday at the Transcorp Hilton, with support from @francediplo, we did something truly remarkable and feel very pumped about it. We gathered policy shapers, global leaders, civil society executives, and activists from various leading organisations around the West and Central Africa for the launch of “Kemi” - a survival-centred, multilingual AI-powered WhatsApp chatbot co-created by survivors of Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence (#TFGBV). Earlier this year, we conducted a multicountry online survey across six West and Central African countries to understand the awareness of #TFGBV, lived experiences, and barriers to seeking support. Analysis of the survey revealed that while 92% of the over 1,100 respondents experienced #TFGBV, including online harassment and non-consensual image sharing, only less than half of this number disclosed or reported these incidents. Their reasons? Stigma, fear of blame, and a lack of trust in available reporting or support systems which necessitated @hersafespace25 - the first AI-powered WhatsApp chatbot designed to address identified gaps in reporting and support for survivors of #TFGBV in West and Central Africa The event was also an opportune time to shed greater light on the prevalence of #TFGBV in Africa, as we launched other knowledge products, including the Methodological Report on the #TFGBV Database Development in West and Central Africa which provides broader perspectives on the rise of #TFGBV in Africa and recommends collective actions that can be taken to prevent it. Other knowledge products include; Staying Safe With Tao - a Guide Book on Becoming a Digital Champion; Power and Influence in Addressing #TFGBV in Nigeria; HerSafeSpace - Digital Safety Manual; and #TFGBV in Nigeria - Mapping Harms, Gaps and Pathways to Justice  The highlight of the event was the inauguration of the Male Allyship Programme - a platform for a more coordinated approach where even the boy child is empowered with knowledge and resources to, through dialogue, education, and action, champion a safer digital space by eradicating all forms of Gender-Based Violence through speaking up, showing up, and standing against #TFGBV. This programme matters because research shows that over 60% of online abuse victims are women. The Allyship Programme stands tall to change this narrative - not just to balance the data, but to eradicate all forms of violence against persons. We were thrilled to inaugurate global leaders (in no particular order): @jayegaskia, a public affairs and political analyst; @NoelAlumona, a special education expert and founder of @boyschampionsNG; @rotexonline, the Executive Director of @youthhubafrica; Mac Imoni Amarere, board member at @ActionAid; @Husseini_abdul, the Director of Pan-African and New Power Advocacy Office at @Save_AU_Liaison; Mustapha Sheu, a development expert; @HamzyCode, the CEO of @Connected_dev and co-founder of @4lowthemoney; @Nwankpa_A, the acting Director General of @SMYFoundation and @Funsho_Olajide, the founder of Disability Not a Barrier Initiative into the Allyship. These experts bring years of experience in creating sustainable pathways to development, and we are very proud of the next steps we will take together from here. KEMI is live, share this post and let more people access Kemí.

For many Nigerians, democracy is more than election day. It is the hope that hard work can put food on the table, that young people can dream without leaving home, and that leaders hear the voices of the people they serve. Today, across our streets, markets, schools, and communities, different faces tell the same story, a desire for opportunity, accountability, security, and a future that works for everyone. Because democracy is not measured by promises made during campaigns, but by the dignity and quality of everyday life. This Democracy Day, may we remember that nation-building is a shared responsibility. We must keep showing up, speaking up, and holding on to the belief that our voices can shape the Nigeria we all deserve. Happy Democracy Day, Nigeria. 🇳🇬 #YouthVoices #RaiseYourVoice #HopeForNigeria #StrongerTogether #bbydi

Today is Democracy Day. The schoolchildren and teachers of Oriire are entering their fourth week in captivity. The women and children of Woro, in Kwara North, have been held since February. We work alongside teachers, students and traditional leaders in states like Kwara. They are among the people now being taken. "A democracy is tested less on the day it holds an election than on every day after, in whether the state can keep an ordinary citizen safe," said our Executive Director, Nurah Jimoh-Sanni. We are asking the Federal Government, the Oyo and Kwara State Governments to bring every captive home, to spend what they have already pledged on securing schools, and to keep families informed through official channels rather than leaving them to learn a relative's fate from a captor's video. A note for everyone online: in the weeks after Oriire, false claims of a rescue spread fast and pulled scarce resources away from the search. Waiting for verified information from official sources and credible newsrooms is itself a way of protecting them. Our full statement is below.

Happy Democracy Day. On 12 June 1993, Nigerians voted in a presidential election widely judged the freest the country had held. It was annulled, and no official result was ever declared. That annulment is why Democracy Day falls on 12 June. Between elections, democracy looks like asking where your local government's money went, or checking a claim before you pass it on. Voting is the part with a deadline, and this year it's 10 July. INEC's Continuous Voter Registration closes that day. If you've turned 18, never registered, moved, lost your PVC, or need to correct your details, register before then. You start online at cvr.inecnigeria.org, then finish in person at your INEC state or LGA office (weekdays, 9am–3pm). Centres get busier as the deadline nears, so do the online step now rather than in the first week of July.

Today, we celebrate the power of the people, the strength of our voices, and the values that unite us as a nation. May we continue to build a future where every voice counts and every citizen has the opportunity to thrive. Happy Democracy Day. #DemocracyDay #BBYDI #ThePowerBelongsToYou

In Oko-Erin, a community in Ilorin, Kwara State, a lot of people came to the AI literacy session already sure it had nothing to do with them. AI was for the well-schooled, the moneyed, the technical. For some, it was intimidating. So the facilitators started with something they were familiar with: stories. Instead of defining AI, they showed it working in lives people knew. For example, a trader looking for more customers, a student stuck on research, a parent unsure what their child does online. Prompting got the same treatment. It was described as a conversation, telling the tool what you need the way you'd tell anyone who could help. This aided the participants' understanding. They asked about how they could use the tools to reach their customers, sharpen their studies, and help them guide their children. The facilitators were from Oko-Erin themselves, trained by BBYDI and now teaching people they know, working alongside Kwara Harmony Youths' Dynasty. #AILiteracy #BBYDI #DigitalSafety #OkoErin #Ilorin

When the AI literacy session in Odo-Ijesa ended, Olori Abosede Oni stood to give the vote of thanks. As one of the community's women leaders, she'd sat through the whole afternoon, and the part that resonated with her the most was what it could save her. She'd been paying others to handle the digital side of her work, including design and the rest of it, the tasks you hand off when you can't do them yourself. The training showed her she could do that work herself now, for less, and without waiting on anyone. The session was run by facilitators from Odo-Ijesa itself, community members BBYDI had trained, now teaching their own neighbours. Working in the local language, they took participants through Gemini, ChatGPT, Grok, and Canva, how to recognise misinformation, and how to check whether something is true before passing it on. Mr Gbenga Ajayi, a business owner, said it was the local language that made the training stick for him. He left planning to put the tools to work in his own business. #AILiteracy #BBYDI #AISafety #OdoIjesa #OsunState

Kemi track the delivery. App say e don arrive. She relax. But she no call her customer. Logistics company sef no call. By the time anybody check, the goods don spoil. AI give her information. To follow up still na her job. 🎧 Episode 8 dey live. Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/3fY… YouTube: youtu.be/pLitDt1JqbU

Yesterday in Ilorin, we joined the Federation of Muslim Women’s Associations in Nigeria (FOMWAN), Kwara State chapter, as a resource partner for the step-down of their Annual National Education Summit. The summit, held earlier in Abuja, carried the theme “The Ummah in the Age of Artificial Intelligence (AI): Challenges, Opportunities and Responsibilities.” The Kwara step-down brought that conversation home to members across the state, and FOMWAN asked us to lead the part of it that put AI directly into participants’ hands. Most of the women in attendance were older; teachers, traders, community leaders, and many were using AI on purpose for the first time. We kept it practical, working on the phones they already carry, through Meta AI inside WhatsApp, in English and Yoruba. By the end they were building lesson plans, designing flyers and banners for their own work. We gave real time to the responsibility part of the theme. AI will answer a question with full confidence whether it has it right or wrong, so we made it clear that it is a useful tool, not the last word, and anything that matters should be checked against a source you trust. Our thanks to FOMWAN Kwara for the invitation, and for the care they bring to reaching their members.

Amaka walks to work every morning, passing the same overflowing waste dump at the corner of her street. Like many Nigerians, she has grown used to the sight. Yet, across the country, Nigeria silll generates over 32 million tonnes of waste annually, much of which is poorly managed. This World Environment Day, let's remember that a cleaner, healthier environment starts with the choices we make every day. The good news is that change begins with simple actions: reducing waste, recycling where possible, planting trees, conserving resources, and encouraging sustainable habits within our homes and communities. Our Planet is our Responsibility, together, we can reduce waste, protect nature, and create a more sustainable future for all. #WorldEnvironmentDay2026 #OurPlanetOurResponsibility #Bbydi #ClimateAction #ProtectOurPlanet #YouthForTheEnvironment

Over two weeks ago, 46 school children and teachers were kidnapped while in school in some communities in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State. According to Premium Times, at least 551 students and school staff have been abducted across Nigeria in multiple mass school kidnapping incidents since 2023. This is a heartbreaking reminder of the growing insecurity threatening innocent lives and education in our communities. On this International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression, we are reminded that behind every statistic is a child, a family, and a future disrupted by violence. Every child deserves to grow up safe, protected, heard, and free from fear. Today is a call to action to our states and federal governments to strengthen security around our schools, protect every child, and ensure that innocence is never stolen again.

Hundreds of millions of Africans own a mobile phone but cannot reliably get online. Civic tools built only for the web miss them. That finding came from a year-long study we made public this month, which included an audit of 299 civic technology products across all 54 African countries, and a new framework for how AI in civic life can be designed differently. The May edition of The BBYDI Brief covers the launch, the close of our National Essay Competition, and what we think the sector should be paying attention to. Read it here:linkedin.com/pulse/bbydi-map…

"Sir, is AI an app?" Mr. John's answer changed how Funsho understood everything: "An app is like a car. AI is the engine inside." AI isn't coming. It's already here—in our phones, our maps, our everyday lives. 🎧 Episode 7 is live. Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/2lw… YouTube: youtu.be/ATNK-iBk_1o

More than two weeks after schoolchildren and their teachers were abducted in Oriire, Oyo State, their families are still waiting. Michael Oyedokun, one of the teachers, was killed in the attack. Kwara and Oyo are states where we work. The schools, teachers and communities now in the line of fire are the ones we work alongside. In Woro, in Kwara North, women and children taken in February have now been held for close to four months. This has stopped being something one region carries while the rest of the country watches. We are asking the Oyo, Kwara and Borno State Governments and the Federal Government to treat the safe rescue of everyone still held as a national emergency, and to keep affected families informed through official channels as the search continues. Our full statement is below.

Eid-ul-Adha Mubarak to all our Muslim brothers and sisters. As we celebrate this season of faith, sacrifice, and devotion, may your homes be filled with peace, joy, and countless blessings. May the spirit of Eid inspire kindness, unity, and compassion in our communities and beyond. Wishing you and your loved ones a beautiful and fulfilling celebration. #EidMubarak #EidUlAdha #BBYDI #Faith #Sacrifice #Community

Funsho neva read the book. But AI give am full essay in seconds. Problem solved—until Oga John ask one question: "If your teacher ask you to explain am, wetin you go talk?" 🎧 Episode 6 dey live. Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/77H… YouTube: youtu.be/QLiNk5b5bG8

When your Arsenal-supporting boss finally has something to celebrate… free lunch unlocked 🍕😂 #BBYDI #DoersOfBBYDI #StaffyMoments

From bold conversations to powerful insights, the launch of our research report on Technology, Artificial Intelligence and Civic Engagement in Africa brought together voices committed to shaping the future of governance and citizen participation across the continent. We engaged policymakers, innovators, civil society actors, media professionals and young people in important conversations on how AI can strengthen accountability, participation and civic engagement in Africa. Here’s a recap of moments from the launch event. #BBYDI #AIforGood #CivicEngagement #ArtificialIntelligence #AfricaInnovation #Governance #ResearchLaunch

Today, we celebrate growth, service, and new beginnings. Congratulations to our amazing corps members, @adeolavisuals, Margaret Udobong and @Adebiyi_Yimika, on the successful completion of your service year and your Passing Out Parade. Your dedication, hard work, and contributions to BBYDI have been truly commendable. As you step into a new chapter, we wish you greater opportunities, success, and impact in all your future endeavours. Keep shining and making a difference. Congratulations once again!

The Brain Builders Youth Development Initiative (BBYDI) conducted an AI Literacy Training for Teaching and Learning themed “From Basic Use to Learning, Content Creation and Classroom Integration.” The virtual training focused on equipping teachers with practical skills for integrating AI into teaching and learning through hands-on activities using tools such as ChatGPT and Suno. Participants explored prompt writing, generated lesson-ready materials, and learned how to create engaging classroom content to support teaching and learning. #AILiteracy #AIinEducation #TeacherTraining #BrainBuildersYDI #TeachingAndLearning