Thanks to you technology entrepreneur Mohammed Bayero Yayandi, who was a 2018 participant of the British Council supported Creative Hustle in Kano, children in Nigeria are learning how to code and use digital data to transform their lives.
The British Council’s Creative Hustle 2018 attracted Mohammed Bayero Yayandi because it was a seminar-style event that offers young people aged 18 - 35 the opportunity to gain awareness of the breadth of artistic and non-artistic livelihood opportunities available across creative sector value chains.
Attending it was a game-changer for Mohammed, he says, due to the opportunities it offered to network with critical creative thinkers.
“I believe that there is a creative fusion between all disciplines and that I can make change happen within my community using my digital skills,” he says. “In the last two years, I have used my developing skills as a volunteer in community development, where I focused advocating for causes including No Hate Speech, Education, Girls’ Rights, Early Child Marriage, Violence Extremism and Health and Peace using my tech skills.”
Mohammed has also been serving as Head of Children’s Affairs and Technology for Children and Young People Living for Peace (CYPLP), a youth-driven organization working in disadvantaged areas and areas prone to violence in Nigeria. It works to enable young people to become active citizens, to tackle the root causes of violence, and to build community cohesion.
He is also the founder of YandyTech Solutions, a network teaching and sharing opportunities for youth and children to learn how to code, design and developing websites and to use data to provide useful insight that tells meaningful stories.
Mohammed is also now a member of the United Nations Major Group for Children and Youth. This is the United Nations General Assembly mandated, official, formal and self-organised space for children and youth to contribute to and engage in certain intergovernmental and allied policy processes at the United Nations.