Idris Bilyaminu Ndasadu’Lau

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Idris Bilyaminu Ndasadu’Lau said his important piece of advice is to ‘make sure no one is left behind’. He has created a variety of projects aimed primarily at including members of his community who are routinely marginalised, namely women and girls. Idris said these are some of the ‘most vulnerable people in Africa today’.

Growing up in Nigeria, Idris witnessed election-based violence in his community at a very young age. Idris said that the desperate need for a change – for peace – motivated his research into socio-economic issues. The aim of his organisation – Youth Awareness for Peace and Development – is to include and inspire young people to create more sustainable environments. He said he intends to spread his mission from his community to other communities in rural Nigeria. Idris travels to these communities advocating for peace and political stability and implementing programmes to help achieve his goal. He does this by means of recruiting volunteers, fundraising and generating awareness, These programmes aim to include and unite populations by involving community political leaders. He said thanks to these changes, the recent election in Idris’ home city was a peaceful one – in contrast to the political unrest and election violence which inspired his start in peacebuilding.

Idris said there have been immense challenges to his work, from a lack of funding and reliable transportation to networking and legitimacy. Idris said that at the beginning of his peacebuilding journey, he suffered from a lack of mentorship and guidance. Without connections, leaders rarely took him seriously, sometimes saying that he was too young to know what he was doing. But these instances were rare, and he said that he overcame this challenge and now is respected and revered as a leader by many in the community. He stressed the need for improved networking and communication, especially considering the large-scale interest there is in his region – his organisation works regularly with over 200 volunteers. He said the key to recruiting these volunteers is to make the projects exciting and accessible. For example, by making signing up as simple as a Google form and offering free transportation, Idris’ initiative becomes accessible to many in the community. He said though, that creating accessibility can be a challenge due to the lack of funding and infrastructures connecting those areas. For example, sometimes he bikes up to 20 kilometres just to reach a community

Idris said he thinks his organisation has impacted more than 10,000 lives through a social media campaign. He has travelled to 20 communities in Nigeria. His campaigns try to convey the voices of everyone by including all political parties, emphasising the issues faced by women and girls and engaging young people. The results he saw in his own town continue to motivate him despite the hardships. He advises other young people starting out in this field to ‘be a friend to failure, because failing is not the end of life, it’s telling you, you have to try again’.

Published in 2025