VOICE2REP (A PROJECT OF ACCOUNTABILITY LAB NIGERIA)

Voice2Rep is a first of its kind music competition searching for rising musicians who support greater representation, participation and accountability.

Voice2Rep (“Voice to Represent”) is a first of its kind music competition searching for top first-time WaZoBia-Pidgin English music artists who support greater representation, participation and accountability across Nigeria. Nigeria continues to suffer from entrenched challenges around accountability, exclusion and lack of representation. While the country has achieved considerable democratic gains, many of these gains have been lost along the way as power has become centralized within the hands of a corrupt elite. Citizen participation is paramount to holding government accountable – if political processes and economic development exclude certain groups, good governance is impossible. With Voice2Rep, we want to ensure that citizens understand their rights, roles and responsibilities, and engage in constructive national conversations to push for the change they would like to see. Youth play an important role in this process and through a creative medium like music we have been able to broaden our reach.
The Lab identifies the top ten new artists through a selection process with experts from the music industry and civil society (in 2018, we received more than 300 submissions). Voice2Rep connects renowned musicians and development experts to mentor first time artists to make songs on key issues including elections, women’s rights and business accountability. These young creatives gain the opportunity to perform their music on a national stage and country-wide tour with a top recording company. After the concerts, the Lab promotes the songs across various media and social media platforms and uses them as advocacy tools. Currently, this project is being implemented with Chocolate City, one of the biggest in the Music industry in West Africa. The artists form a coalition of music artists and governance experts to support accountability across Nigeria.

— Culled from SDG Action Awards