Democracy, elections and political participation
Arewa Youth Must Rise
Arewa ADC Media & Youth Summit 2026
The Future of Democratic Nigeria and the North under PBAT: Its Imperatives for Arewa Youth to Rise
Guiding philosophy
Inform → Organise → Create → Participate → Lead
Convener: Dr. Ahmed Tijjani UmarPowered by: Elrufai Live, under the Rise with Atiku InitiativeSupported by: Alh. Kashim Ibrahim (Muttawalli of Borno)
Date
To be announced
Venue
Kaduna, Nigeria — Proposed venue
Coverage
19 Northern States + FCT
Event overview
A convergence for meaningful democratic participation
The Arewa ADC Media & Youth Summit 2026 is a Northern youth, media, technology and creative convergence focused on equipping young people with the knowledge, skills and networks needed for meaningful democratic participation.
Who should attend
Built for those ready to do the work
- Young people
- Media practitioners
- Technology professionals
- Creative talents
- Researchers
- Digital creators
- Community organisers
- Core participants: 500 selected participants from across the 19 Northern States and FCT
What the summit will explore
The ground Arewa youth must understand
Governance and government performance
Economic and social issues affecting Northern Nigeria
Political communication and information integrity
Technology, AI and digital media
Election security and digital safety
Youth leadership and community organisation
Evidence-based political and policy analysis
Key programmes
How the summit builds its participants
Arewa 500 Skills Hunt
Identifying young talents across political communication, journalism, research, graphic design, video production, AI, data, poetry, fashion and community organisation.
Seven-Day Arewa Youth Rise Academy
A preparatory online programme covering democracy, elections, governance, political communication, AI, information integrity, election security and youth organisation.
Arewa Media Lab
Research → Verify → Analyse → Create → Communicate
A collaborative environment built around the full path from evidence to message.
Innovation & creative labs
Where ideas become tools and culture
Civic technologyResearch dashboardsFact-checking toolsHausa-language digital platformsCreative expressionSpoken wordMusic and fashionFireside discussions
Expected outcomes
An ecosystem that continues after the hall
The summit is designed to establish an ongoing youth-media ecosystem through the Arewa Youth Rise Academy, Arewa Media Lab, Arewa 500 Digital Platform and State Media Clusters across the 19 Northern States and FCT.
Call to action
Arewa Youth Must Rise.
Rise in knowledge. Rise in skills. Rise in creativity. Rise in organisation. Rise in responsible democratic participation.