HumAngle Foundation kicked off a five-day training for its inaugural Technology and Civic Impact Fellowship on Monday, July 29. The fellowship brings together 10 fellows, including journalists, activists, and civil society actors, selected from a pool of applicants across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones.
By Saduwo Banyawa
The foundation will train ten fellows from different parts of Nigeria on leveraging technological tools for actionable advocacy and accountability within public institutions.
During the training, seasoned facilitators will teach the fellows to use advanced technological tools and apply them to their work.
HumAngle’s CEO, Ahmad Salkida, welcomed the fellows and encouraged them to serve as advocates when they return to their various states.
“The whole idea is to have an enduring relationship that will last as long as possible to advance our core social values,” he explained.
The programme also aims to familiarise them with immersive storytelling and activism, encourage them to leverage the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act to promote accountability and build a community of civil society actors using technology to promote transparency within public institutions.
Angela Umoru, Director of HumAngle Foundation, assured the fellows that the organisation would do its best to provide all necessary support to bring their projects to life.
The first day of training featured a range of experts, including Akintunde Babatunde, Director of Programmes at the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID); Damilola Lawal, HumAngle’s Creative Advisor; Muhammad Jibrin, HumAngle’s IT Lead; Anthony Asemota, HumAngle’s Multimedia Editor; and Shade Mary-Ann Olaoye, HumAngle’s Audience Engagement Editor.
Akintunde’s session focused on technology and advocacy. He spoke about the revolution in the advocacy space owing to technology and the use of social media to drive change. He cited examples of how Nigerians mobilise each other on the X platform for a peaceful protest to hold their leaders accountable.
“If you’re doing advocacy and you don’t want to utilise the power of social media, then you’re making a mistake,” Akintunde said.
Man presenting at a workshop with a slide titled “Advocacy in the digital age” in the background.
The fellows also learnt how to use Canva for design, techniques for visual storytelling, how to use generative artificial intelligence tools for content creation and other purposes, and the prospects of virtual reality storytelling.
Anthony explained that people in the civic space are looking for problems, impacts, and solutions. He noted that visual stories need to be told in the language of the people involved.
“One of the major things to focus on when telling a story is the feeling,” Anthony said.
He also taught the fellows basic videography techniques and spoke on video editing tools.
During her session, Shade spoke to the fellows about video distribution and how it connects with digital advocacy while giving examples of specific tools. She explained that humanising people to tell their stories gives them a source of power and drives positive change.
Speaking on email marketing, she explained how to use newsletters and policy briefs to reach targeted audiences and provided insights on how websites can be powerful storytelling tools.
In the coming days, the fellows will also be taught research and fact-checking for social impact, maximising artificial intelligence in the Nigerian context, data for civic engagement, conflict reporting and humanitarian response, amongst other topics.
By HumAngle
