Panellists at the Zikoko Citizen Townhall 2026 have faulted the lack of active citizenship as a blocker to the collective freedom of Nigerians.
Held on February 28th, 2026, at the Four Points by Sheraton, Lagos, the Citizen Townhall themed “Who Shapes The Nigerian Life?” featured four panel sessions that shed light on important societal and political issues affecting the average Nigerian citizen.
During a panel discussion titled “Awareness to Pressure: How Accountability Actually Works In Nigeria,” experts and activists examined why knowledge of societal issues does not necessarily translate into sustained action. Throughout the discussion which was moderated by TechCabal Audience Editor, Zia Yusuf, the panellists highlighted structural and personal challenges and emphasised the need to translate awareness into pressure.
One major emphasis of the panel session was the importance of stability before activism. Executive Director of Paradigm Initiative, Gbenga Sesan, was of the firm opinion that young Nigerians must establish their personal foundations before they can properly influence systemic change in the country. “Be okay first. Nigeria will be okay if you are okay. Because if people who are not okay are trying to make a country okay, when they get their first chance to be okay, they will forget the country,” he said.
The panel also emphasised the need to focus on a single issue to achieve great results. Sesan recalled historical campaigns that achieved significant success due to their narrow focus. “Almost all of the success stories we have today are from single focus activism,” he said, pointing to the Bring Back Our Girls movement as an example of how effective single-focused activism can be.
The panellists went on to stress the importance of actionable information and localised civic engagement; according to them, knowledge of the actions that lead to results is as important as awareness itself. “Awareness is only noise until it’s converted to pressure,” Eromz Adene, director, Abenol Foundation, said. Citing the recently passed electoral bill, he remarked that policy makers would have bowed to pressure to change the bill if the number of protesting citizens were enough to “block cars.”
The audience was also encouraged to focus on elections at all levels, not just the presidency. Local government, state assemblies, and federal representatives were identified as avenues where young people can exercise meaningful influence. “Change can happen in every other election that is being held. And the more people represent us, the bigger the win for us.” Eromz said.
The discussion also tied activism to historical precedent, showing how earlier civic actions shaped subsequent outcomes. “Every protest plants a seed,” Gbenga Sesan observed, linking the outcome of the 2015 elections to the Bring Back Our Girls movement of 2014. He also highlighted the same pattern in the 2023 elections to the EndSARS movement of 2020. These examples, he said, show that campaigns make a difference despite how they might look.
The session closed with a reminder of the systemic challenges that persist in Nigeria, particularly selfishness among the elite. “This elite selfishness is something we need to deal with,” Sesan said, linking such selfishness to the “disdain that we have for participation in processes.” According to him, this practice causes those with influence to detach themselves from civic and institutional processes, ultimately weakening the very systems required for long-term national development.
Through these insightful discussions, the panel made it clear that awareness alone cannot be enough. For young and active Nigerians, the road to change requires preparation and pressure.
