I Voted, Now What - Film Project

The 50-minute film shows how young people can effectively engage elected representatives and government after elections to deliver campaign promises and democracy dividends. It tells the story of a young man named Jairo and his journey from citizen to activist as he attempts to bring water to his village after his sister is injured carrying water home across a dangerous intersection. With help from a local civic group, Jairo lobbies his state representative to address water access problems. In the process, he gains a better understanding of cooperation and about the power of citizens to bring about positive change. The film stars two popular Nigerian actors, Ali Nuhu and Lilian Esoro, and Nigerian musician Jeremiah Gyang. To further promote the film, the movie's theme song was released to radio stations across Nigeria.

The accompanying handbook "I Voted Now Wetin - A Youth Democracy Film Handbook" [2012] is a toolkit intended to guide young people who are passionate about seeing quality democracy and good governance manifest in Nigeria. It was created to help them organise ideas and actions to improve postelection engagement and aid discussions about political engagement at viewing parties across the country. It is designed to highlight salient issues in the film. The handbook is divided into 3 parts just like the 50-minute film which is also divided into 3 parts. Each part has short chapters called "Wetin" and each chapter is written using different scenes from the film as well as illustrations to better highlight the film's messages. The handbook is written to encourage youth to think more deeply about the state of their community or constituency and how they can use lessons in the film to facilitate positive changes in their area. Each chapter ends with a recap and to inspire them to carry out some activities, and encouraging them to try out some of the activities in the handbook.

Voted, Now Wetin is sequel to "My Vote Can Change Nigeria" ("My Vote Fit Change Naija") a short film released in 2011, which highlighted the importance of voting. The film shows how a life experience can be made different and a lot better when there is good leadership and good governance, thus provoking the simple logic that if leadership affects the personal life and leadership is a direct result of an election, then people should take the responsibility of identifying good leaders, voting for them, and ensuring that their votes count during the elections. The film reached an estimated 45 million Nigerians around the country and abroad through social networking sites, television broadcasts, and youth-initiated viewing parties. Click here to view this film on Youtube.

Democracy and Governance

Approximately one-third of Nigeria's 170 million people are between the age of 10 and 24, according to the United Nations. The Youngstars Foundation works to inspire this large youth population to become community leaders.