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Hamzat Lawal

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Hamzat Lawal
Born
Hamzat Lawal

1987 (age 36–37)
Kogi State, Nigeria
NationalityNigerian
Alma materUniversity of Abuja
OccupationActivist
Years active2012 — present
Known forFollow The Money
Notable workFollow The Money
Websitewww.hamzatlawal.com www.connecteddevelopment.org

Hamzat B. Lawal is an anti-corruption activist. He is the founder of Follow The Money, a social accountability initiative that comprises data analysts, journalists, activists, and students.[1] Hamzat is also the Chief Executive of Connected Development (CODE), a non-governmental organization that is empowering marginalised communities in Africa with access to information on how to better engage their government for the implementation of public services.[2]

Biography

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Early life and education

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Lawal is a native of Kogi State. He attended the Model Primary School Asokoro in Abuja, and served as a Boys Scout leader. During his secondary school years, at Government Secondary School Karu in Nasarawa State, he served as the coordinator of Boys Scout and also as a Utility Prefect. He completed his secondary school at Seta International College, Nasarawa State.

Lawal is a graduate of the University[3] of Abuja with a Bachelor's degree in Political Science.

Career

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He has worked as a Rep Serviceman in an information technology firm. He later worked as an information technology specialist with International Centre for Energy, Environment and Development (ICEED)[4] during which his passion for climate change grew. When his boss noticed the area of his passion, he gave him a United Nations Framework on Climate change website to research, and after going through documents and protocols, he developed more interest in that area. He later registered with many climate change platforms and participated in several activities.

In 2012, Lawal was grieved by the poisoning that took place in Zamfara state two years earlier. When he realized that nobody was talking about the disaster and the people affected after killing more than 400 people, he embarked on a 14 hours journey to the community, Bagega, where the incident took[5] place, in order to learn more about the aftermath of the problem. This propelled him towards community activism and to start a grass-roots movement known as Follow The Money, using data to hold government accountable, and demanding action from government agencies. In March 2021, Hamzat Lawal Emerged as the Finalist for the $120,000 Gothenburg Sustainability Award.[6]

Lawal is a co-convener of the Not Too Young To Run movement, a Nigerian Youth movement whose support for young people's right to run for political offices ensured that an age reduction bill was passed across the country promoting youth inclusion in Nigeria's politics. He is an executive board member of African Youth Initiative on Climate Change.[7]

Activism

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Lawal started his activism while in University of Abuja. There after, he was responsible for advocating for good governance among the student and within the student community. He is constantly speaking out against corruption, human rights abuses and disfranchisement of young people and the general citizens. In 2013, he was almost arrested by Department of State Securities after he was accused of instigating youths against the then government.[8]

#SaveBagega

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#SaveBagega was a viral campaign that started off on Twitter when Hamzat first used the hashtag when he tweeted about the lead poisoning incident in Bagega, Zamfara State.[9] In May 2012, Doctors Without Borders had reported that least 4,000 children are suffering from lead poisoning as a result of artisanal gold mining in Zamfara State in Nigeria.[10] Later the same year, Human Rights Watch further called on the Nigerian government who had pledged close to US$5 million to clean up areas that had been contaminated with lead during artisanal gold mining operations because of high levels of lead in rock ore. At the time of Human Right's Watch participation in #SaveBagega, more than 400 children were reported dead and many of the children could not be treated.[11][12]

In January 2013, the campaign had reached some one million people, and dozens of media outlets had picked up on the story.[13] At the end of that month, the federal government released the $5.3 million.[14]

Awards

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References

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  1. ^ Moscoso, Sandra; Lee, Samuel; Lawal, Hamzat; Babayemi, Oludotun (14 August 2014). "Open data on the ground: Nigeria's Follow the Money initiative". World Bank Blog. Retrieved 13 March 2022.[permanent dead link‍]
  2. ^ "Hamzat Lawal". www.connecteddevelopment.org. Retrieved 2022-02-26.
  3. ^ Team, Editorial (23 January 2019). "Hamza Lawal- The Follow the Money". GlobalNoticeHub. Archived from the original on 25 January 2019. Retrieved 25 January 2019.
  4. ^ "Hamzat Lawal: It started when I connected to pain » YNaija". YNaija. 17 October 2016. Retrieved 25 January 2019.
  5. ^ Ukwu, Jerrywright (24 October 2016). "How Hamzat Stated". Legit.ng - Nigeria news. Archived from the original on 20 April 2019. Retrieved 25 January 2019.
  6. ^ "Nigeria's Hamzat Lawal Emerges Finalist for the $120,000 Gothenburg Sustainability Award". Technext.ng. 10 March 2021. Retrieved May 27, 2021.
  7. ^ "Hamzat Lawal". TechCamp. Tech Camp. Retrieved 25 January 2019.
  8. ^ Team, Editorial (23 January 2019). "Hamza Lawal- The Follow the Money". GlobalNoticeHub. Global Notice Hub. Archived from the original on 25 January 2019. Retrieved 25 January 2019.
  9. ^ "Nigerians demand that their government do something to #BringBackOurGirls". The World from PRX. Retrieved 2021-08-28.
  10. ^ "Jonathan's inaction on lead poisoning causing death of hundreds of children in Zamfara- groups - Premium Times Nigeria". 2012-12-06. Retrieved 2021-08-28.
  11. ^ "Nigeria: Death Stalking Lead-Poisoned Children". www.hrw.org. Retrieved 2021-08-28.
  12. ^ "Nigerian 'Gold Rush' Poisoning Children | Voice of America - English". www.voanews.com. Retrieved 2021-08-28.
  13. ^ "Nigeria's Hamzat Lawal Emerges Finalist for $120k Gothenburg Sustainability Award". Technext. 2021-02-28. Retrieved 2021-08-28.
  14. ^ "Follow the Money: How open data can track public money and change lives in Bagega, Nigeria". ONE. 2018-09-13. Archived from the original on 2021-08-28. Retrieved 2021-08-28.
  15. ^ "USD100,000 ONE AFRICA AWARD PRIZE GOES TO NIGERIA'S CONNECTED DEVELOPMENT". ONE. 9 April 2017. Retrieved 25 January 2019.
  16. ^ Olafusi, Ebunoluwa (9 August 2018). "Hamzat Lawal named among 100 most influential people in digital government". TheCable. The Cable. Retrieved 25 January 2019.
  17. ^ Oyewole, Nurudeen (1 November 2018). "Elumelu, Akufo-Addo, Davido, others listed for AEMA continental awards". Daily Trust. Retrieved 25 January 2019.
  18. ^ "The Future Awards Africa… Toast to inspiring, young Nigerians of 2019". The Guardian Nigeria News - Nigeria and World News. 2019-11-30. Retrieved 2021-08-27.
  19. ^ "Nigerian groups named finalists in UN SDG action awards". The Guardian Nigeria News - Nigeria and World News. 2019-04-22. Archived from the original on 2021-08-27. Retrieved 2021-08-27.
  20. ^ "Hamzat "Hamzy" Lawal, Education Champion | Malala Fund". malala.org. Retrieved 2021-08-27.
  21. ^ "Malala Fund lists CODE's Hamzat Lawal as global education champion". TheCable. 2020-08-03. Retrieved 2021-08-27.
  22. ^ "Meet the Advisory Council Behind this Year's Global Citizen Fellowship Program, Powered by BeyGOOD". Global Citizen. 20 July 2021. Retrieved 2021-08-27.
  23. ^ "Hamzat Lawal, Aisha Yesufu appointed to Beyonce's fellowship advisory council". TheCable Lifestyle. 2021-07-26. Retrieved 2021-08-27.
  24. ^ "Hamzat Lawal, ICIJ named finalists for $120,000 sustainability award in Sweden". TheCable. 2021-03-09. Retrieved 2021-08-27.
  25. ^ "Finalists emerge in 2021 JCI Nigeria TOYP Award". Latest Nigeria News, Nigerian Newspapers, Politics. 2021-05-06. Retrieved 2021-08-27.
  26. ^ "Hamzat Lawal appointed as honorary ambassador to Israel". TheCable. 2021-12-14. Retrieved 2022-03-28.
  27. ^ "Hamzat Lawal, a Nigerian brand". Punch Newspapers. 2021-07-29. Retrieved 2022-03-28.
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