Advance Inclusive Governance
Reimagining civic participation in a democracy is still finding its feet. There’s no shortage of elections in Nigeria—what we lack is a democracy that listens. Across communities, people know how power works.
They may not always trust it, but they engage it—through whispers during campaign seasons, through silence when polling units arrive late, and sometimes, through courage when the system seems designed to forget them. At CISD, we believe governance must go beyond the ritual of elections.
It must be lived, felt, and shaped by people who are often on the margins of decision-making.
We’re building new bridges between citizens and the state—not with abstract civic education modules, but with platforms where real conversations happen.
In markets, school compounds, and community halls, we help citizens reflect on what governance could look like if it truly worked for them.
✦ Approach
Our Approach⚡
We work in the spaces between policies and people—where distrust brews, where vote-buying is less about ignorance and more about survival, where apathy is a response to repeated exclusion.
Our approach is behavioral, participatory, and grounded in people’s realities. We listen, co-create, and then act—with communities, not just for them.
+ Behavioral
+ Participatory
+ We Listen
+ Co-Create
+ Act
✦ Ongoing
Ongoing Initiatives
A youth-centered campaign that nurtures democratic consciousness outside election seasons. We design interventions that help young people see civic life not as an occasional obligation, but as an everyday responsibility. Through dialogue circles, civic leadership labs, and issue-based organizing, we reframe what it means to participate.
In partnership with local governments and civil society actors, we convene town halls that don’t just end in applause. They’re designed for follow-up, feedback loops, and tangible shifts in how citizens are heard. These spaces allow real-time engagement between people and public institutions—restoring voice where silence had become the norm.
We partner with reform champions across the legal, civic, and media ecosystems to advocate for electoral systems that are credible and inclusive. From combating vote suppression to proposing accountability mechanisms for campaign financing, we bring research and grassroots voices to the table.
Whether it’s the elderly voter turned away due to a faulty BVAS machine, or the youth who never received their PVC, we document stories that data alone can’t tell. Our findings inform policy recommendations to strengthen the right to vote, especially for those living at the intersection of multiple exclusions.
Selected Publications & Knowledge Work
“Beyond the Ballot: Civic Imagination for aNew Democracy”“The Margins of Participation”Public Square Tracker (Q1–Q4)
- “Beyond the Ballot: Civic Imagination for a New Democracy” A narrative report highlighting youth-led governance innovations from three Nigerian states.
- “The Margins of Participation” A research paper exploring voter suppression trends among women, persons with disabilities, and rural communities.
- Public Square Tracker (Q1–Q4) Annual digest of feedback from town halls across five states, with direct responses from MDAs.
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Contact Our Governance & Democracy Team
