Key members of Nigeria’s alternative music scene, as defined by Chiagoziem of filterfree.ng, have teamed up with The Election Network and Ford Foundation in an effort to mobilise millennial voters in the country towards next month’s general elections.
According to statistics from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the Nigerian organisation in charge of the elections, over 84 million people have registered to vote and, of that number, 51.11 percent are young people between the ages of 18 years and 35 years old.
“Millennials are the largest voting population but they are irreverent about the issue of politics. If we have to get to them, then we have to speak their language,” states Noble Igwe, a celebrity lifestyle entrepreneur and the #Naijaistheparty campaign’s lead influencer. “This would mean getting things done in their own way.” The campaign will be full of surprises, heavy on user-generated content and deploy proprietary technology that would excite millennials about voting and to help the integrity of the process.
In order to incentivise young voters, The Election Network, with the support of Ford Foundation and public affairs firm Gatefield, have collaborated with several young talents in the country to build personal creative content with messages including: “Voting is the party,” “Voting is true love,” “February 16 is the party” and a call for their audience to pledge to vote on the campaign website Naijaistheparty.com. Alongside the content, the campaign will feature a concert in Abuja on the 19th of January 2019, targeting university campus students and millennials across the country. The concert will be headlined by a surprise celebrity guest to be announced.
The #Naijaistheparty campaign features a diverse cast of music and dance talent including Lady Donli, Tomi Thomas, Jessica Bongos, Cheso, Keren Happuch, Biekhay, Powei, TRPLE.V, Ted, SK, Zilla, Psycho and The Virals music band who will use their unique voices and talent to inspire the audience to go out and vote next month.
For a chance to win a free recording session for a song of your choice, please download the beat and record a video of yourself using the beat and the hashtag, #naijaistheparty. Put it on your social media pages and the people with the two most liked videos will win a free recording session!
The Election Network is a civic social enterprise that relies on the use of digital media and data-driven journalism to trigger interest around global elections. The organisation is focused on original digital storytelling, and smart coverage of technology, data trends, special features and curated stories that provide great insight into elections around the world.
Take the pledge to vote by opting in on the website: naijaistheparty.com
