The Nigeria Youth Talent Hunt Exhibition and Top 12 Award is a project designed to identify, capacitate and showcase young change makers in Nigeria using their community based projects to create positive social changes in their local communities. On Friday 13th November 2009 the maiden edition was held at the Sheraton Hotels Abuja under the auspices of the Hon. Minster of Youth Development of Nigeria, Sen. Akinlabi Olasunkanmi. During the maiden edition, 60 young change makers from about 15 states of Nigeria converged in Abuja to showcase their projects before the awards. It is on record that these 60 youths conducted about 245 youth development activities reaching about 15,000 youths between January 2008 to June 2009 to qualify for the exhibition.
On christmas day in Detroit 2009, a young Nigerian attempted to blow up a jetliner in a failed bomb scare which put Nigeria in the headlines for a most negative reason, shocking the Nigeria people and generating widespread condemnation. However that action does not represent the values, responsibility, patriotism, creativity, humaness and positive outlook of the average Nigerian youth. The Nigeria Youth Talent Hunt Exhibition and Top 12 Award is one of such initiative that showcases that young and emerging Nigerians are strategic contributors to national and global good. For young people interested in community impact projects and showcasing what they are doing to change communities, the 2010 edition of the Youth Exhibition and Top12 Awards is a great national opportunity. For corporate bodies interested in promoting positive youth culture in Nigeria or any where in the African continent, this project offers a huge market and opportunity.
How Nigeria Youth Talent Hunt and Top 12 Awards operates:
In 2004 Youngstars partnered with the British Council Nigeria to develop and publish the “How to..” publication, a series of 7 youth development booklets designed to capacitate young people involved in youth development projects. It was launched by Sir Richard Godney British High Commissioner in 2007. The series include Organisation, Participation, Skills, Fundraising, Projects, Communication, and Sustainability. Afterwards, the books were circulated across 15 states of Nigeria free of charge to young people as resource tools for positive community development initiatives. In 2008 the Top 12 Awards was initiated offering opportunities to young people who have used the How to books to initiate and implement projects to submit their projects as entries for the Top 12 Awards. Due to unavailable funding the award was deferred to 2009 when the Federal Ministry of Youth Development Nigeria offered new funding partnership.
On accessing funding in 2009, the award section of the project began with evaluation visits to about 17 states in the 6 geo-political zones of Nigeria to inspect projects by young people. States visited included Anambra, Akwa Ibom, Cross Rivers, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo states. Delta, Edo, Oyo, Ogun and Osun states. Abuja, Kaduna, Plateau, Bauchi, Kano and Gombe states. A team of 4 evaluators comprising the authors of the 7 How to books and Youngstars staff conducted the field trips using individual score-sheets which rated each project on the following 7 areas: Social Relevance, Innovation, Implementation, Reach / Scale, Impact, Sustainability and Replicability.
The Nigeria Youth Talent Hunt Exhibition and Top 12 Awards:
Twelve award categories offered young people the chance to win prizes including brand new laptops and plagues courtesy of the Federal Ministry of Youth Development Nigeria. Awardees during the maiden edition got additional prizes of brand new webcams and earphones donated and shipped directly by SKYPE from the United Kingdom. The 12 Award Categories and winners for the 2009 edition are
List of TOP 12 Awardees 2009
| Name | Project Category | State | |
| Francis Paul Itodo | bigifrank@yahoo.com | Fighting Stigma against HIV/AIDS | Kaduna |
| Aishatu Ene Ella | eneabs@yahoo.com | Childhood Development | Abuja |
| Aderogba Adebayo Emmanuel | buildingpotentials@yahoo.com | Achieving Academic Excellence | Delta |
| Ifiok Sunday Nyong | campjingle001@yahoo.com | Coastal Tourism Development | Cross River |
| Isikwenu Oghenefego | figobud@yahoo.com | Leadership and Economic Empowerment Project (Women-LEEP) | Delta |
| Adibor Iroro Milicent | millicent4christy2k@yahoo.com | Project on Self Empowerment and Development | Delta |
| Awofadeju Oluwaseun Bolade | seuncares2003@yahoo.com | Youths for Change | Lagos |
| Benjamin Dankaka | bendanks@yahoo.com | Readers and Leaders Campaign | Kaduna |
| Obinna Michael Udenwe | ugreen07@yahoo.com | Sustainable Environment and Development | Ebonyi |
| Emmanuel Egwu Acha | digihubproject@yahoo.com | Digihub Greenfield Project (DGP) | Enugu |
| Linda Udeagha | lindaudeagha@yahoo.com | Street to School | Abia |
| Akinloye Oyetunji Olu | factcolours@yahoo.com | Peekok Youtharts Development Project | Plateau |
Highlight from the Maiden Edition of Top 12 Awards:
Impressed by the quality of projects exhibited by the young change makers without any funding but through personal sacrifice and initiative, the Hon Minister of Youth Development of Nigeria Sen. Olasunkanmi named Youngstars “The Most Innovative Youth Organisation in Nigeria 2009” and announced that his ministry have considered making budgetary provision to make the project an annual event from 2010. Another outcome of the project is a proposed National Coalition of Nigeria Youths in Development as a platform for mobilizing and coordinating the efforts of young people in social development work in Nigeria.
This project by Youngstars and the partnership with the Federal Ministry of Youth Development has further demonstrated that young people across Nigeria are willing to contribute in their own way towards the development of our motherland Nigeria, and most importantly, that adult & youth partnership is critical in fostering strategic youth development and nation building. Ace Nigeria comedian Julius Agwu partnered by fearturing free during the award. The Nigeria Youth Talent Hunt Exhibition and Top 12 Award 2010 shall be announced in due course in partnership with the Nigeria Federal Ministry of Youth Development Abuja, SKYPE United Kingdom, and Julius Agwu Foundation Lagos. For sponsoship or partnership on this project, please call +234 8035868586, 234 7035535876, +234 8065479817 or email info@youngstarsfoundation.org
