About Us
Our Vision, Mission, Values, Board of Directors and Country Management Team.
ActionAid Nigeria was established in 1999 and registered with Corporate Affairs Commission in 2007. We are a national non-governmental, not for profit, non-partisan organisation and an affiliate member of the ActionAid International Federation which is registered as a non-profit in the Netherlands with footprint in over 70 countries across the world. Federation members maintain strong relationships of interdependence and mutual accountability, ensuring a strong balance between self-rule and shared rule.
We collaborate with state and non-state actors (government, CSOs, movements, networks, allies, and other relevant stakeholders) and this collaboration works towards shifting power to the people, promoting equality, and redistributing wealth and power through a multidimensional, human-rights-based approach to development. We mobilise active agencies of people to confront unequal power relations that exclude them or others from decision-making and limit their access to and control over resources and opportunities.
Vision
A just, equitable and sustainable world in which every person enjoys the right to a life of dignity, freedom from poverty and all forms of oppression.
Mission
To achieve social justice, gender equality and poverty eradication by working with people living in poverty and exclusion, their communities, people’s organisations, activists, social movements and supporters.
Values
- Mutual respect, requiring us to recognise the innate worth of all people and the value of diversity.
- Equity and justice, requiring us to ensure the realisation of our vision for everyone, irrespective of gender, sexual orientation and gender identity, race, , ethnicity, caste, class, age, HIV status, disability, location and religion.
- Integrity, requiring us to be honest, transparent and accountable at all levels for the effectiveness of our actions and our use of resources and open in our judgements and communications with others.
- Solidarity with people living in poverty and exclusion will be the only bias in our commitment to the fight against poverty, injustice and gender inequality.
- Courage of conviction, requiring us to be creative and radical, bold and innovative – without fear of failure – in pursuit of making the greatest possible impact on the causes of poverty, injustice and gender inequality.
- Independence from any religious or party-political affiliation.
- Humility, recognising that we are part of a wider alliance against poverty and injustice.
- Climate consciousness, requiring us to promote behaviours that protect the environment.
Our Mission Objectives
Priority 1: Secure, Resilient and Thriving Communities.
Priority 2: Improved living standard: Thriving Communities.
Priority 3: Good governance: Equitable access and Thriving Communities.
Priority 4: Agile, Effective and Thriving Organisation.
Our Programmes
ActionAid employs one mega strategy for the achievement of its programme priorities by building and working with movement and allies. Through radical convening and advocacy on pressure points that target government and private sector for sustainable change, we hope to support the emergence of movements and critical groups, strengthen existing movements for results; and create the catalytic and enabling space for change to happen.
We will hold ourselves and our partners accountable for the commitments we make to ensure downward integrity in our actions at all levels. Consequently, we will be:
- Putting the active agency of people living in poverty first.
- Campaigning for justice
- Advancing women’s rights through feminist principles
- Working in partnerships
- Breaking new grounds
- People centred research, learning and documentation
The People We Work With
We work in partnership with state and non-state actors without compromising our identity and brand. We adopt a bold and radical approach in seeking for social justice by working more with social movements and other organisations. We facilitate access to appropriate and comprehensive support that ranges from strategies development to collective actions.
AAN work closely with young people, youth focused organisations, youth movements and youth activists to enhance their rights and agency in addressing the paradox of poverty through innovative strategies. By working alongside and supporting youth organisations, we aim to contribute to the development of robust and dynamic youth movements that actively links with other movements and actors towards the collective pursuit of poverty eradication and social justice.
To accommodate our diverse partnerships, we implement a partnership policy and financial management systems that foster agility to position the organisation for resilience and productivity.
Our Theory of Change
Our Country Strategy Paper aims to confront the deepening poverty and social injustice faced by citizens in Nigeria. As poverty and inequality deepens, discrimination against women, girls, young people and persons with disabilities persists due to lack of equitable access to services and information, and educational disparities which hinders their fundamental rights and limits better outcomes in their lives.
The key to igniting change lies in mobilising and organising citizens at all levels to demand accountability and challenge the existing inequalities and injustice. By empowering citizens to challenge inequalities for safe, resilient, and thriving communities with equitable access to services and sustainable living standards, we aim to shift power dynamics and address the root causes of poverty and inequality.
We therefore premise our work on mobilising citizens to demand for secure, resilient communities with a focus on equitable access to services, dignified employment, and improved living standard. This would target the systemic drivers of poverty, including social injustice and inequality, ultimately leading to reduced poverty and inequality in Nigeria. We therefore will focus on four key areas - ORGANISE, ACT, SHIFT, THRIVE.
Board of Directors
| S/N | Name | Designation |
| 1 | Rabi Isma | Chairperson |
| 2 | MacJohn Nwaobiala | Vice Chair |
| 3 | James Milaham | Treasurer |
| 4 | Prof. Eze Nwokocha | Member |
| 5 | Farida Ali Adamu | Member |
| 6 | Fatima Aliko Mohammad | Member |
| 7 | Dr. Comfort Oko | Member |
| 8 | Oladele Afolabi | Member |
| 9 | Aisha Mohammed Bello | Member |
| 10 | Dolapo Agbede | Member |
| 11 | Okorie Muhammad Okwudiri | Member |
| 12 | Etim Ekong | Member |
| 13 | Adeola Olanrewaju Adejoke | Member |
| 14 | Joseph Tyovenda | Member |
| 15 | Mosun Bello | Member |
| 16 | Saadatu Umar Baba | Member |
| 17 | Faruk Kurawa | Member |
| 18 | Justice Mojeed Adekunle Owoade | Member |
| 19 | Ohio Ifiabor | Member |
| 20 | Hassana Yahaya Bello | Member |
| 21 | Yusuf Ogwuzebe | Member |
| 22 | Jummai Bappah | Member |
| 23 | Andrew Mamedu | Secretary |
Country Management Team
| Andrew Mamedu | Country Director |
| Suwaiba Muhammad Dankabo | Deputy Country Director/ Director of Programmes |
| Funmi Olukeye | Director, People and Culture |
| Nkechi Ilochi-Kanny | Director, Business Development and Innovation |
| Collins Chinyere | Director, Finance |
| Celestine Odo Okwudili | Head of Programmes |
| Musah Hassan | Head of Finance |
| Basirat Adesina | Human Resource & People and Culture |
| Niri Goyit | Women’s Rights Specialist |
| Newton Otsemaye | Specialist, Social Mobilisation |
| Kehinde Arowosegbe | Local Rights Programme Specialist |
| Vivian Efem-Bassey | Specialist, Governance |
| Amina Aliyu Adamu | Specialist, Impact Assessment and Shared Learning |
| David Habba | Specialist, Humanitarian and Resilience, North-East Liaison |
| Oluwole Olusanya | Specialist, Internal Audit |
| Azubike Nwokoye | Food Systems Specialist |
| Charles Petu | Digital Technology Specialist |
| Emmanuel Apaa | Finance Partnership Specialists |
What is feminism?
Feminism is an ideology and set of movements that work to achieve social, political and economic equality between the sexes.1
Our feminist behaviours are:
1. Self-awareness
Working towards accepting our vulnerabilities, as well as recognising and valuing our own strengths and those of others.
For example, in all learning events and during one to ones we encourage feedback and self-reflection as a way of learning about ourselves.
2. Self-care and caring for others
Taking care of our own emotional and physical well-being and encouraging and supporting others to do the same.
For example, we make sure deadlines and work schedules take into account unpaid care obligations, taking extra steps to protect women, in particular, from an excessive, dual burden of work and unpaid care. We ensure that leaders, in particular, role model this by keeping their own working hours balanced and taking enough leave.
3. Dismantling bias
Checking our own and institutional privilege and power based on advantages we have such as gender, class, race, ability and other factors.
For example, if we see or experience any discriminatory policies and processes at work, we call them out and we change them. Policies could include maternity and paternity leave, safeguarding, well-being, and others that ought to take into account the reality of all of our lives. We also think about who might be dominating in a discussion and instead encourage others to voice their opinions.
4. Inclusion
Building diverse teams and responding to different barriers to participation.
For example, we include everyone - junior or senior - in the hiring process. This allows us to have diverse interview panels and bring a range of views and life experiences to the table. We work to ensure that people with different perspectives join the conversation at the start rather than relying on those ‘who think like us’.
5. Sharing power
Creating a space for others to lead.
For example, we encourage colleagues to recognise their own value and abilities, and support them in putting themselves forward for committees, promotions and other opportunities. We also encourage individuals who have completed a piece of work to attend senior leadership team meetings to present it.
6. Responsible and transparent use of power
Being clear, timely and transparent in making decisions.
For example, we explain the arguments and analysis that were undertaken to reach decisions and show how people's views were considered in the decision-making process.
7. Accountable collaboration
Ensuring collective goals are clearly defined and mutually owned. Holding ourselves and others accountable for achieving them.
For example, when things don’t go well, we encourage creative thinking about what we could have done differently and how we could have worked together better to overcome challenges. We also recognise and celebrate collective and individual contributions and achievements by putting our team members in the limelight.
8. Respectful feedback
Seeking, giving and valuing constructive feedback as an opportunity for two-way learning.
For example, we practise continuous feedback sideways to our colleagues, bottom up to our managers and top down to those we manage, through empathetic, unbiased and uplifting language. We step into the other person’s shoes and focus on the positive outcomes that we want.
9. Courage
Taking initiative, learning from mistakes and not fearing failure.
For example, we seek out new ways of doing things and empower others to do the same. We are open to valuable insights from colleagues, even those we disagree with. If we come across challenges, we are open about our mistakes and self-doubts. We understand that this is a journey and that everyone will ‘make mistakes’, so our focus is on helping individuals learn about themselves and the impact of their actions.
10. Zero tolerance
Calling out any form of discrimination and abuse of power and ensuring our own conduct is free from any kind of harassment and exploitation.
For example, we report any inappropriate or abusive behaviour that we witness; for us zero tolerance means that we look into all instances however ‘small’.
Moving forward with feminist behaviours at ActionAid
We recognise our feminist framework for the workplace – our feminist behaviours – will not solve all of the challenges in addressing imbalances of power that we come across day-to-day.
But this is a start to ensuring safe, diverse and respectful workplaces.
We want to provide a conducive environment for all of us to apply these behaviours in our daily work.
All of us – and particularly those of us in management roles – must take responsibility to initiate, implement and influence the organisational changes needed, at whatever level we can, to ensure we have a safe and happy workplace that includes and empowers everyone.
footprint
Lengermann, Patricia; Niebrugge, Gillian (2010). "Feminism". In Ritzer, G.; Ryan, J.M. (eds.). The Concise Encyclopedia of Sociology. John Wiley & Sons. p. 223. ISBN 978-1-40-518353-6.
ActionAid UK