I created The Justice Café to address the dangerous disconnect between Nigerian youth and their governance systems. Despite being the majority, young people often feel their voices don't matter, leading to civic apathy that perpetuates cycles of poor governance. Traditional education fails to provide practical, engaging civic education. I saw the need for a platform that doesn't just teach about democracy but actively practices it, transforming youth from passive observers into empowered agents of societal change.
The Justice Café operates through monthly forums across four universities, blending academic rigor with accessible dialogue. Each forum features: 1) An academic paper presentation on a pressing societal issue; 2) A panel with government, civil society, and academic leaders; and 3) Interactive Q&A. This is complemented by a central "Advocacy Canvas" workshop where students learn to design real advocacy campaigns. We use a structured curriculum, peer-to-peer learning through our Variant Youth coordinators, and both digital and physical spaces to create a continuous learning ecosystem focused on practical change-making skills.
Since its founding in 2025,we've secured funding from the Nigeria Youth Futures Fund, built a core team of four coordinators, and established partnerships with the National Youth Council of Nigeria and student unions across four institutions. Our main achievement is creating a sustainable operational structure ready for implementation. In the next 2-3 years, we aim to directly engage 1,000+ students across Northern Nigeria, develop a "Justice Café in a Box" toolkit for replication, and establish chapters in three new states.
Based on initial stakeholder feedback, we enhanced our model by adding the "Advocacy Canvas" workshop as a capstone experience. This addresses the gap between discussion and action by providing a structured tool for turning ideas into campaigns. We also shifted from a single-location to a multi-university hub model to increase reach and impact, creating a network effect where students from different institutions can collaborate on shared societal challenges.
If I want to try it, what should I do?
1. Contact us at justicecafe.kaduna@gmail.com to express interest.
2. Identify a team of 2-3 dedicated coordinators at your institution.
3. Secure a venue through student union partnership.
4. Select a topic relevant to your community's societal challenges.
5. We'll provide the operational framework, branding guidelines, and connection to our facilitator network to help you launch your first forum.
