Brain Builders Youth Development Initiative

Happy birthday,

Across your years at the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism, NRGI, and now as Regional Portfolio Director, Africa at Luminate, you've helped shape the spaces where civic participation, press freedom, and women's voices in public life have grown stronger across the continent.

Your more recent work at the intersection of technology, democratic participation, and socio-economic justice has opened room for organisations like ours to think seriously about what ethical AI looks like on this continent. It is the kind of leadership that makes our own work on AI literacy and Technology-Facilitated Gender Based Violence feel less lonely.

What has stayed with us, beyond the work itself, is the way you carry it. There is a humility in how you show up that is rare at your level, and an openness that makes every conversation feel like one between equals.

Thank you for the work, and for the principled, unassuming way you do it. Wishing you rest, joy, and a year as generous to you as you have been to this field.

For everyone asking what comes next on the National Essay Competition on AI Literacy:

Review is in progress. Every applicant will receive an email by Friday, 24 April, whether the essay is advancing to the second round or not. 100 essays move to that round, and the top 10 finalists will be selected from there.

If you submitted, check your inbox (and spam folder) over the next few days.

Supported by

We are proud to have our communications associate, Fatima Binta Abubakar represent us at the Business Tech Summit 2.0, University of Ilorin.

She joins other thought leaders to share insights on building sustainable solutions and translating advocacy into real, measurable impact.

At BBYDI, we believe in turning ideas into impact and this conversation is an important step in shaping that future.

We look forward to the conversations, the connections, and the solutions that will emerge.

Unilorin TechInAfrica