‘Why I’m passionate about gender and youth advocacy’

Ms Rinsola Abiola is an advocate of gender equality, as well as youth and women inclusion in politics. The certified public relations practitioner is a member of the Board of Trustees of the All Progressives Congress (APC), acting president of the APC Young Women Forum (APC-YWF) and Board member, the Young Women in Politics Forum. She is presently serving in the National Convention Committee of the party. She spoke to Tambari on her career, the not-too-young-to-run campaign and other interesting issues. Educational background My education started at Chrisland, Opebi road in Lagos before I proceeded to Lawson Nursery and Primary School in Abeokuta, Ogun State. When we moved back to Lagos, I attended CTC International School; from there I went to CTC High School. For my senior secondary education, I went to Alaba Lawson Royal College in Abeokuta, after which I read Statistics at the University of Agriculture, Abeokuta. I also have diploma in Public Relations.

Growing up to get through. The most rewarding part of my career It has been knowing that the party now takes youths into consideration when making decisions. It is also very rewarding when this consideration is extended to young women. It certainly seems like the advocacy is beginning to yield results.

I believe the achievement is not being the only young woman in the room, but also ensuring that other young women are able to gain entry.

The most fulfilling thing so far is that in different states, there are now thousands of young women who have developed greater political awareness as a result of the work we have been doing. If I leave politics today, knowing that I played a role in making that happen is enough to keep me happy. Life lessons I’ve learned that amazing things happen when you step out of your comfort zone. And there is a lot of fulfillment in pursuing your dreams. There is nothing that gives me greater joy than attaining a goal; and with each milestone, one can only aspire for more, God willing.

Challenges of job and how I overcame them

As a youth advocate, especially for the inclusion of young women in politics, it has been quite challenging to get the number I want. Many people believe that politics is not for women. And there are a lot of other societal barriers and notions to contend with. It has not been easy to convince young women that their voices also need to be heard.

Within the political system itself, our advocacy for the inclusion of the youth has been very intense and persistent. Our society is largely ageist, so it’s been an uphill task countering discriminatory attitudes and pushing for inclusion. However, this campaign has yielded fruit, but we need the level of representation to be better.

I am very passionate about gender and youth advocacy, so it is difficult sometimes to just accept that things have to happen at a relatively slow pace.

Concerning my occupation, the major challenge I’ve had is attaining a balance between work and activities pertaining to political participation and youth advocacy. Oftentimes, I have to travel for conferences or execute some tasks assigned by the party.

Motivation behind the #NotTooYoungToRun campaign and how successful it is so far

The motivation behind it is simple – it is about equity and justice. We can’t have a country where an overwhelming number of people are systemically excluded from contributing to governance and expect development at a quicker pace. Young people need to be given a sense of inclusion and belonging. We are stakeholders in this country like everyone else. We should, therefore, get rid of discriminatory laws that effectively keep young people locked out of a system where decisions that affect their lives are made. Impact of social networking The social media helps to amplify activities. For instance, I was in Dakar for the 9th Assembly of the World Movement for Democracy, and prior to my presentation, I had a discussion with