NERDC Approves Halima’s Vote as Reading Tool in Schools
We are excited to announce that in partnership with the MacArthur Foundation, the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council has approved Halima’s Vote as a reading tool for civic education in primary schools across Nigeria.
Halima’s Vote is Onyinye Ough‘s second children’s book about corruption and vote buying in Nigeria. The government had forgotten Halima’s village, with no schools, clinics or clean water. At election time, politicians would come with small gifts of cash or bags of rice in order to win the votes of the villagers. Halima was a hardworking woman but also very timid. Until one day something bad happened to her village making Halima determined to stand-up for the rights of her people.
Over 65,000 primary schools in Nigeria will now be able to use Halima’s Vote to teach about the negative impacts of vote-buying and corruption on good service delivery in society.
Thanks to NERDC & MacArthur Foundation for seeing the value of ‘catching them young’ in the fight against corruption.
‘Halima’s vote’ is a children’s book about corruption and vote buying in elections. Written by Onyinye Ough, author of ‘Emeka’s Money’, and ‘Tosin’s Story‘ this book aims to teach children aged 6 to 12 about the power of voting and the damage caused by corruption in elections.
The book aims to encourage a new generation of leaders to change how things are done on the continent. It also shows the vital role that women can play in the fight against corruption across Africa.
Buy a copy now
Or if based in the US then from Amazon.com
Available across Nigeria through Roving Heights
And electronic copies through Google Play
The Catch Them Young Initiative
With thanks to backing from donors such as the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and MacArthur Foundation, Step Up Nigeria have already reached over 4,200 children with their books and class-room engagements. Over the next two years they will have reached more than 20,000. As part of their engagements, they are beginning to produce young anti-corruption champions who are speaking out against corruption.
One of our young anti-corruption champions is 13 year old Naomi Oloyede, who got the attention of the world in 2019, with her speech at the UNODC Education for Justice conference
Naomi’s speech was focused on creating a fair society and tackling corruption. Onyinye’s dream is that she will be able to roll out this type of engagement to every Nigerian child. “We want to create thousands of Naomi’s. Only if we catch them young can we hope to change public attitudes towards corrupt behaviour.” Onyinye’s children’s books on corruption and her range of creative content under development puts them in a strong position to take on this challenge. If they can change attitudes, Onyinye strongly believes there is hope of properly tackling corruption in Nigeria.
News and social media coverage during the Halima’s Vote children’s book launch on anti-corruption in elections include:
Nigeria’s Daily Trust: Why I wrote anti-graft books for children