Closing Ceremony and Orientation for WAIGF 2025

Summary

This transcript covers the closing ceremony of a West African Internet Governance Forum (IGF) school and the planning for upcoming IGF events. The speakers, including Mary Uduma, Salisu Kaka, and Emmanuel Vitus, reflected on the importance of the program and encouraged participants to stay engaged in internet governance. They emphasized how the IGF ecosystem has provided career opportunities and fostered regional cooperation. The speakers urged attendees to share knowledge, build networks, and take active roles in their national IGFs. The discussion highlighted the voluntary nature of IGF work but stressed its value in shaping internet policies and fostering digital development in Africa. Participants then introduced themselves, showcasing the diversity of backgrounds represented, including government officials, academics, cybersecurity experts, and civil society members. The group reviewed the agenda for upcoming IGF events, assigning rapporteurs to cover various sessions on topics like AI, digital rights, cybersecurity, and internet shutdowns. The planning demonstrated the collaborative nature of the IGF process and the wide range of internet governance issues to be addressed. Overall, the discussion emphasized the IGF’s role in capacity building, policy development, and creating opportunities for African youth in the digital sphere.

Keypoints

Major discussion points:

– Encouraging participants to take an active interest in internet governance and apply what they’ve learned

– Sharing opportunities and building networks within the internet governance ecosystem

– The importance of youth involvement and leadership in shaping the digital future

– Assigning rapporteurs for the upcoming West Africa Internet Governance Forum sessions

Overall purpose:

The purpose of this discussion was to wrap up a training program on internet governance and prepare participants for the upcoming West Africa Internet Governance Forum. The speakers aimed to inspire participants to stay engaged in internet governance issues and take on leadership roles.

Tone:

The overall tone was encouraging and motivational. The speakers, particularly Mary Uduma, spoke with enthusiasm about the opportunities in internet governance and urged participants to get involved. There was a sense of passing the torch to a new generation of leaders. The tone became more practical and task-oriented towards the end as rapporteurs were assigned for the upcoming forum.

Speakers

– Mary Uduma: Chair of the West Africa Internet Governance Forum

– Moderator

– Salisu Kaka: Director of e-government digital economy development department at National Information Technology Development Agency (NIDA)

– Emmanuel Vitus

Additional speakers:

– Akimbo: ICANN member

– Kunle Olorundarin: President of Internet Society, Nigerian Chapter

– Kinyo Sawaboke: Communications Officer at National Information Technology Development Agency

– Bilamin Umar: Public Relations Officer, Internet Society, Nigerian Chapter

– Esther Hamzat: Programme Analyst for ISACA cybersecurity certification

– Chisholm Joanne Onwemeka: Librarian and information manager, founder of Joko North Enterprise

– Fola Arame Umuru: Lawyer and cybersecurity analyst

– Hafiz Toib: Country Director for Africa Center for Digital Transformation

– Abdurahman Omarodoli

– Abdul Idris: Program analyst from National Assembly Service

– Joshua Ifrim: Program analyst from Nigerian Parliament

– Sidi Elhatubuktar: Cyber Security Department, National Information Technology Development Agency (NIDA)

– Uche Chikalu: Works with .NGCCTLD (NIRA, Nigerian Internet Registration Association)

– Martha Ngedu: Works with National IGF in Nigeria

– Hussein Hamza: Member of Internet Society of Nigeria

– Alasana Cham: National Youth Parliamentarian from The Gambia

– Binti Manseri: WASIK Fellow, part of ISOC and Internet Governance for Sierra Leone Executive

– Chinwe Ogbuja: Volunteer with West African Internet Governance Secretariat

– Christiana Lunge: Lawyer, works with Center for Journalism, Innovation and Development

– Chinedu Ngoye: PhD research candidate in cybersecurity

– Abdukarim Oluedi: Professor of wireless telecommunications

– Abilahi Eliassu: Cybersecurity analyst at National Information Technology Development Agency

– Nyatefe Tochevi: Works at West African Tax Administration Forum

– Abdurahman Omarodoli

– Abul Fatih Al Husseini: Works with Galaxy Bangba Limited

– SP Thomas Joseph: ICT Department, Force Headquarters Abuja

– Rejoice Maiowa: Network and Collaboration Engineer

РCoron̩ Massani: Former ICT official and parliamentarian from Niger

Expanded Summary of the West African Internet Governance Forum (IGF) School Closing Ceremony and Planning Session

Introduction:

This report summarises the closing ceremony of a West African Internet Governance Forum (IGF) school and the planning for upcoming IGF events. The discussion featured key speakers including Mary Uduma, Chair of the West Africa Internet Governance Forum, and Emmanuel Vitus. The event brought together a diverse group of participants from various sectors, including government officials, academics, cybersecurity experts, and civil society members.

Key Themes and Discussion Points:

1. Encouraging Active Participation in Internet Governance:

The speakers emphasised the importance of participants taking an active interest in internet governance and applying their newly acquired knowledge. Mary Uduma urged attendees to implement what they had learned, stating, “We want to prepare you to be part of IGF at national level, part of IGF in your country, because we are not just here to do this for formality.” This sentiment was echoed by other speakers, who encouraged participants to stay engaged and take on leadership roles in shaping internet policies.

2. Opportunities and Networking within the Internet Governance Ecosystem:

The discussion highlighted the career opportunities available within the internet governance field. Speakers encouraged participants to share opportunities with each other and build networks. Emmanuel Vitus emphasised the importance of networking and finding mentors at events, stating, “Please share the opportunities with each other. And one day when we look back to see ministers among us, they will be around tomorrow.” He reinforced this with an African proverb: “If you want to go fast, go alone. But if you want to go far, go together. I want us to go far together.”

3. Youth Involvement and Leadership:

A significant portion of the discussion centred on the importance of youth participation in shaping the digital future. Mary Uduma stressed that young people should take an interest in global internet issues and highlighted the career opportunities available in internet governance. She stated, “Please don’t go home and put this thing on the shelf. We are handing over to young people like you.”

4. Value of the West Africa School on Internet Governance:

The speakers reflected on the importance of the IGF school in providing knowledge, networking opportunities, and preparing participants for national and regional IGFs. Emmanuel Vitus noted that school alumni had gone on to leadership roles, demonstrating the programme’s impact on capacity building in the region.

5. Multi-stakeholder Participation:

There was strong agreement on the importance of multi-stakeholder participation in internet governance. Speakers emphasised the need for different stakeholders to be represented in discussions, including youth voices, parliamentarians, and government officials. This approach was seen as crucial for developing comprehensive and effective internet policies.

6. Participant Introductions and Networking:

A significant portion of the event was dedicated to attendees introducing themselves, sharing their backgrounds, and networking. This segment highlighted the diverse range of participants, including students, professionals, and government representatives from various West African countries. It underscored the importance of building connections within the internet governance community.

7. Planning for Upcoming IGF Events:

The latter part of the discussion focused on practical planning for upcoming West Africa Internet Governance Forum sessions. Rapporteurs were assigned to cover various topics, including digital rights, cybersecurity, and internet shutdowns. Specific sessions were mentioned, such as “Internet Governance for Development” and “Emerging Technologies.” The planning also included discussions about the Youth IGF and the main IGF events scheduled for the following days.

8. Additional Points of Interest:

The discussion briefly touched on other relevant topics, including:

– The mention of a book on internet safety for kids authored by one of the participants.

– An emphasis on joining Internet Society chapters, as highlighted by Kunle Olorundarin.

– The importance of promoting local content and languages online.

Conclusion:

The closing ceremony and planning session of the West African IGF school showcased a strong commitment to fostering internet governance capacity in the region. The discussion emphasised the importance of active participation, youth leadership, and multi-stakeholder collaboration in shaping the future of the internet in West Africa. By encouraging participants to take on roles in their national IGFs and engage with the broader internet governance ecosystem, the speakers aimed to create a new generation of internet governance leaders. The event concluded with practical steps towards organising upcoming IGF events, setting the stage for continued dialogue and policy development in the region.

Moderator: and all right, please another round of applause for them I’m sure you enjoyed the practical sessions. I could see all of you, even when i was saying it’s time for lunch, it’s time for lunch, some people didn’t want to go for lunch because they hadn’t finished their presentations but i love that dedication so we’re about to start the closing ceremony and the closing ceremony and i guess a little bit of an orientation about the west africa internal governance forum so i’ll be inviting three people to the i call this our little high table but i’ll be inviting three people to the high table starting with engineer Sali Sukaka he is from the national information technology development agency the director of the e-government digital economy development department so please a round of applause for him so sorry you just joined us on this table so i’d like to invite the chair of the west africa internet governance forum we have her madam Mary Uduma a round of applause for her and the last person we’re inviting you know him we just talked to you emmanuel again victors all right so i will just hand over for their remarks and then the brief orientation on the west africa internet governance so so we’ll start all right okay

Mary Uduma: this is my good this okay all right hello good evening everyone i hope you have enjoyed The two days intensive drilling from Emmanuel. Was it worth it? I know, are we sure? Okay, we clap if it’s worth it. New knowledge, can I hear, can I see your hand? New knowledge, new knowledge, we, we, okay. Okay, I’m going to implement what I’ve heard. Within my locality or my community or my circle, I want to implement, I want to be part of it. Okay, I want to be part of IGF at national level. I want to be part of IGF in my country, part of IGF in my country, because we are not just here to do this for formality. We want to prepare you. You can see that I’m a grandmother and I won’t continue. So I want to hand over to you to do better than I’ve done. And some of you may have known me for a very long time. I’ve been in this space since I was working in this organization called Nigerian Communications Commission. It was in 2004, because of the schedule of my duty, I got to know about, first I got to know about ICANN, Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Number. You learned about them today, right? That was in 2004, but out of curiosity, out of interest, out of tenacity, out of intention, personal intention and passion, passion. So I have, I had to go on to, to find out what is in this ICANN, what is internet, what is domain name, what is… internal DNS, internet protocols, all of them. I am not a tech person. You may be surprised to know that I studied accountancy and I’m a professional accountant, but out of interest because of the schedule of duty I had to do in Nigerian Communications Commission, I picked up interest in this space and is addictive. When you pick up interest in a cyber world is addictive. So I don’t just want you to do all this training, all this struggling, all this not sleeping and calling. What are we going to present? What is it? What is it? I don’t understand this part. So take it back, develop interest, make sure Emmanuel started that way. Emmanuel is an expert here. Mariam, I think Mariam is here. She started, yeah. That’s her, she’s now an expert. Akimbo, I picked Akimbo when he was still very small in the, you know, he started with me and now he’s bigger than me. He’s now a doctor. He’s now a doctor. So, and he is known all over the world, especially this is his cup. When they want to describe Nigeria, they talk about Akimbo. So for you in your country, whether it’s Senegal or Gambia or Togo or Niger or Benin or Cote d’Ivoire or Mali or Cape Verde, I hope those ones are online that are listening to me. Please, I want you to take interest in what is happening globally. There’s no running away from it. We can’t run away from what is happening globally. We just have to be. on the table when the conversation is being done so that they will not put our own interests under the table. We want our interests to be on the table. So if you are not there, if you are not speaking up, if you are not participating, if you are not active, other people will take decision for your country, other people will develop policies for your country. So we want you to be part of it, we want you to take part. So let’s see that after this meeting this year in Abuja, you will remember that it was that grandmother that spoke to me and she encouraged me to continue. So I want you to continue. I want you to be part of the National IGF. If you want to do a local one, like you want to do one in Taraba State, for instance, in your school, we’ll support you, okay? If you want to do a remote one in Côte d’Ivoire, we are there to support you, okay? So let others know about it. If I had kept it to myself, we wouldn’t have had all that is happening now. But I did not keep to myself, I brought others. Kaka was, Engineer Kaka, was one of the first, we called it MAG, we called it LMAG, LMAG, Local Multi-Stakeholder. When we were forming our National IGF, he was one of the first people that were at the organizing committee. And when we heard it, he played a great role. And today he’s still playing a great role in this process. So I want to encourage you. I don’t want to make other speeches and say fine, fine things, but I want to challenge you that by next year, when we are doing the next West Africa Internet Governance Forum School, you will be like, Emmanuel, you’ll be teaching orders. That’s what I want to challenge you. Please don’t go home and put this thing on the shelf. C, we are handing over to, I am handing over to young people like, have you seen me since this thing started? But if we were younger days, I would be one jumping from here, talking to everybody, making sure you are doing it well. But Emmanuel is there. Akimbo is there, Yao is there, Muriel is there, Mariam is there. So please, I want you to take that as a challenge as you go. And I want to let you know that we are there to support young people, actually. Everywhere we are talking about young people, whether ITU, they are talking about young people, WSIS, young people, IGF, young people, AI, everywhere, young people. Ah, there’s somebody I’ve been meeting. That is the faculty member, Engineer Kule. Okay, I know when Engineer Kule came to this space. Now he’s a veteran, he’s an expert. He can say, just wake him up. You can see, you hear what will be coming out of his mouth. All right? Because he has applied himself into it. And so I want you to do the same. Thank you for coming. We may have some shortcomings, no doubt. When you are organizing a program of this nature, there will be some shortcomings. But we are going to tell you, Emmanuel will be sending email to, especially those of you that we have taken since the beginning that applied, that applied before April, that we have shortlisted your name as. have been accepted for this program, you will get an email from him, he will be telling you what other thing to do and we would like you to fill the form he will send to you, I didn’t discuss this with him but I’m saying it, he will agree with me he will agree with me, so there will be a form that he will ask you to fill out, please fill it out this night so that we will be able to have the back end, please Emmanuel, those that we have to send the mail to thank you everyone, wherever you have shortcomings, please don’t worry, we will make it up, it will be better and I hope you will come tomorrow for the youth, yes, yes, no, no, youth, youth, youth forum it’s compulsory, oh mandatory, oh please, join the youth, and on Tuesday and on Thursday and Friday this OGA is hosting also, so be there, the goodies that will come, I don’t know, I’m full of expectation that it will be nice on Thursday and Friday the big men, the big men that we have in Nigeria may come and shake hands with you, yes, really, because we are giving you your certificate then yeah, we are going to present your certificate during the main IGF, so if you are not there, maybe I can claim the certificate I want me to claim your certificate, alright, so let’s see you tomorrow, Thursday and Friday as well, ok, thank you very much, I hope it’s worth doing thank you, and thank you, thank you, those online, I don’t know whether there are people online, if you are online can we show people online if there are some that are online Okay. Participants online, okay. Thank you very much for joining online. Please, you can join online tomorrow as well. Ah, Lahat, Lahat, when are you arriving? We’re expecting you. So please, please, you’re welcome. Join us tomorrow, join us on Thursday and join us on Friday. Let me tell you, people have found a career in this space as long as some of, there’s a, one of the people I normally refer to, he’s now employed by GIZ, Joshua Joshua. Joshua, you remember Joshua Joshua when we started? He’s now employed by GIZ. He’s a big man now. He lives in Ethiopia, Addis Ababa. That’s where he lives. Joshua Joshua, he started as we, you people, I just speak to Joshua, 2019. Yes, yes, he’s now, yes. So people have found career. Lily Boyo, found career. So many of them have found career. I hope tomorrow the youth will be able to showcase some of their members that started as we are starting and they have found good employment and career paths in the ICT world. There’s no going back. That’s what we have. Maybe by the time, by the next century, you blink your eyes and your bank account will open. Yeah, yeah, the way it’s possible is what we have seen. Yeah, you just, no, the scary thing for me is that when I think about something, I open my Google, it will just pop up something that relates to what I’m thinking about. I will see it. Please, take good notice of that. You see, so, we don’t know where we are going, but we hope we’ll get there. AI is doing everything, and we hope that you have learned much about the AI, and you convert it to good use. That’s important, that you convert it to good use. Let me stop talking. Thank you very much.

Salisu Kaka: You know, when you have a very vibrant mother, a grandmother, a veteran, so if you give her the first opportunity to speak, she’ll speak for herself, she’ll speak for the son, myself she did, and she’ll speak for the grandson, Emmanuel, she did, Joshua. So, I’m not going to bother you with additional information, but I have to share this thing with you. When I came in, you observed, I dropped my cap and wear this cap, right? And I’ve been looking at my past to see how beautiful and handsome I look. I have an issue with Emmanuel, when we were forming this participation. Got the form, I applied, but Emmanuel rejected my application. I said, what happens? Too old? He said, no. I pushed him, he said, look, kaka, you are not qualified to be here. I said, fine. When I saw Akimbo on Monday, I said, Akimbo, could you imagine what Emmanuel said to me? He just, I know him, he’s stylish. He manoeuvres me, he just might say, kaka, kaka. So, I know that’s a collabo. But at least I’m seated here with this cap. I can claim that I’m part of the participant here. So, at least I got what I want, what Emmanuel decided to deny me. On a serious note, I sincerely congratulate all of you. You cannot understand the opportunity. ahead of you, perhaps until you decide on your own to pick an interest and develop yourself. She mentioned Joshua Joshua and so many others. My first experience around these things was in Aprenik in Tanzania 2011. That was the first time I was introduced to the whole sort of internet activities and to God be the glory I’ve been around and I’m still on it to this hour. So they said the best learning, you don’t get it in the class. You get it only after when you leave the class at your convenient time. Often your notes start going through. That’s when you remember what Emmanuel told you, what all other resource person tell you there. Then you distill and you begin to expand. So it’s in that expansion it will require your own effort, your own commitment and you will discover beyond what even your instructors can imagine. The opportunities are limitless. Sincerely, what Mary Uduma mentioned about we may one day wake up and just blink our eyes, let me see my account balance, you see it is already happening. Those who have been following the research activities at Hobson University when they were trying to clone that, his name is Hobson, right? They just create machines to read his thinking, his thoughts. What is he thinking? You know if you know him, he doesn’t even move, right? But they know the brain is active and the brain is powerful enough to the extent according to them God has never created the greatest brain like that guy’s brain. So they feel there is need to clone that brain. So they’re just studying his signal, developing algorithms, that’s how they start developing machines through these things. When we wake up and see that, okay, we have produced so many Joshua’s, we have produced so many Emmanuel’s, right? Madam Mary mentioned she was jumping left, right and center when she was young. Today, not only today, even before we have proved to her that yes, her jumping was not an endless jumping. That’s why she can comfortably sit down, she knows she has groomed the right people to continue with the work. So that’s the expectation we have on you. That’s what we are transparent about you. And I hope you prove to us that we didn’t make this effort endlessly and our energies is not being wasted. We’ll be happy, we wake up relaxed and see all of you making waves across the globe. Congratulations.

Emmanuel Vitus: Thank you very much, engineer. After listening to the two of you, I don’t know what advice I can give. I always tell people, I joined the ecosystem a decade ago, then they ask me, how old are you? Unfortunately, I think, unfortunately, I’ve been one of the most luckiest in this ecosystem. And I’ve met great people. My first mentor in the ecosystem is at the Wall of Fame of the internet today, Henriette from South Africa. She took me in her arms 10 years ago. So I always tell people that everything is possible. So fellows, partners, distinguished guests, I don’t want to observe protocol because I don’t see anybody here for protocol. We are now a family. So as we close this edition, I really, really want to share this moment with you from everything I have in my heart. I say, let’s share the opportunities. From what we have seen from other people from other region, let’s share that with our people So this week is not just about learning policies, I think It was about finding your voice finding your voice and Building your network. I said after this official closing ceremony, we will do presentations Because we avoid doing that so that they think that this one is an MP, I can talk to him This one is this, I don’t want to talk to him. We have experienced that We’ll do that presentation, find your network and step into the ecosystem Occupy the space. So allow me to sincerely thank the government of Nigeria as Accepted graciously to host us this year because I think until December We’re not having a host country But thank God the people who make this possible Came out from this School and this ecosystem as well. So thank you very much government of Nigeria Thank you Nida for accepting. I know it was very very challenging for being such a Visionary host because we didn’t expect it at all We are grateful for your commitment to the regional corporation to the youth empowerment and Now there is one person I really want to say thank you to is Nina She’s not here But that name when I say it’s a lot of people Sounds to them because until last year She was still Leading the school. She was still sitting at the seat where I’m sitting today And I really really really want to recognize that because since Burkina Faso She has been there Thinking about this idea, Folake mentioned it yesterday, on how we can build an ecosystem for our people. 2018, in Burkina Faso, it became a reality. 2019, we brought, I think Joshua was one of the luckiest that we brought to Banjul. And later on, he led the secretariat. It’s just to tell you how the opportunities are around for everyone. Mariam, today she’s sitting with the big men and politicians. She’s leading the parliamentarian track. So, it means that the opportunities are there for us to grab. So, I really, really want to say that thank you to Nina. She planted the seed and I think now the seed or the school has nurtured it and we took over. We’ll make sure that the legacy, last year she said, I’m retiring. We’re all laughing. We’re like, no, you’ll come back again and support us. This year, when I called her and she said, Emmanuel, I’m not coming. I said, we are going to your country. It’s Nigeria. So, we need you there for the last time. She said, no, I’m not coming. You can do it. Go and do it. So, we took it. We did it. Thank you very much, Nina, from all of us. I always want to recognize my Mary. She didn’t start in Burkina Faso. Maybe before I was born. So, you’ll meet Benga tomorrow. Benga was my boss and Benga told me one day that when she was junior, she won the Junior Achievement Award in Nigeria. And they sent her to Mali because Mali was leading this ecosystem a few years ago. And they bought her, I mean, his tickets. They told him, you are going to Mali as an ambassador for youth. in ICT. So the Malians, they didn’t get the joke. They thought he was a real ambassador. So when he arrived at the airport, they brought the police, they brought everything, all protocols, to carry him from the airport. So the person he was traveling with, he said, I’m not an ambassador. So I think he was in Nigeria, he said, I’m not an ambassador. So it’s, I mean, I always remember that he told me that Mameri was there. And today, I think Benga is in the IGF leadership panel. That panel, the people who are sitting there are Vincent, the father of the Internet. He’s sitting on the same panel with them to lead, you know, the IGF today. Just to tell you that, from junior achievements, meaning you were around 17, 20, a few weeks ago, I think two weeks ago, we were in Tanzania, and his organization hosted a digital rights forum with 700 people. 700 people. Just to tell you how this ecosystem can actually make you build a whole career. So thank you, everyone. I want to thank Muriel. Unfortunately, she’s not here. I think I saw her online a few minutes ago. For her sleepless nights. Everybody asking for a ticket. Accommodation. I think she did a very, very, very, very good job. Thank you, Muriel. Thank you, Muriel, for that. Thank you, Yao. Being a fellow and being a secretariat member, you did a very good job. Mariam, thank you so much. Chinwe, all the things that you see, graphic, everything is her. Mariam, she will be there with the parliamentarians. Now she doesn’t even blend with us. It’s fine. It’s okay. We can do with it. I want to tell Keja, he’s not here yet. You will see him tomorrow. He also came the same way. Now he’s leading the youth in West Africa. He’s leading the youth IGF. So tomorrow you’ll see him in suits. Usually he, I mean, he wears suits for those special occasions. I really want to thank him. I really, really want to thank Ben. He’s not here. Many of you have seen him. He look like an MP. Yes, because he work at the parliament. So Ben has been also a very, very, very good collaborator in the secretariat. To all the people who actually supported the secretariat this year, we hope to continue that journey with you. I was sharing the example of Benga. His organization this year is bringing the MPs to us. Tickets, accommodation, DSA. It’s to tell you that though they get to the top, they still remember where it all starts. So those are examples I really, really want to share with you today. Nnenna last year posted something on LinkedIn and he said, from now going, I’m retiring for internal governance. If you want me speak to Emmanuel. I really want to make this testimony because a few weeks ago I got a contract and I think he’s, the gentleman there, Yauvi, can testify because when he saw the announcement He put my name under the announcement on LinkedIn and I told him that they have reached out to Nina and Nina told them, go and see Emmanuel and I won that contract. Basically, to design AI strategy for francophone African countries. Just to tell you that it’s a family because Nina could have had any other mentee but he trust that you can do this. So, let’s share those opportunities with each other. We’ll do the presentation soon. Everyone will see who is who in the room. Make sure that you leave this place with a buddy. Tell the person that I got your back. Don’t leave here. Don’t leave this place. And this is the secret. Don’t leave this place without having buddies. It’s very, very important. Because the moment you are walking out from the ecosystem that person should be there to remind you that come back. We have this opportunity. I think this can fit you. Try to find that person before you leave this place. And have that fire. That passion. You can see Mama Mary today when we talk Africa IGF. West Africa IGF. Global IGF. Mama Internet. Because she’s passionate about it. Let’s have that passion. All the people I quoted for you right now none of them is being paid for this job. And this is very important to mention it to everybody. None of them is being paid for this job. If you get a $10 for your dinner as a delegate to this conference that’s what the secretariat members… have. It’s the same amount. If you don’t get anything, it means they don’t have anything either. So please, CAM is a voluntary work but not voluntary work. Let me put it that way because what you get out of it is more than you give to the community. This year, I decided to step down from ICANN. I’ve been there, I’ve served on different roles. I’ve been the policy chair for the non-commercials and when I told my colleagues that I’m leaving, what they told me is, who have you trained to take over or to run for the next election? And I said, yeah, we can do it. He’s sitting here. He’s currently a candidate for the policy chair position. Just to tell you that I’m an African. I’m leaving the role. It would be good having somebody there who can continue the work. But that person took years to follow your mentorship, to learn, to be able to lead. So everyone, I will not keep it too long because the examples we can keep giving them, we are now a family. As we say in Africa, if you want to go fast, go alone. But if you want to go far, go together. I want us to go far together. Join the youth IGF tomorrow. We’ll have the main IGF speak, engage, network. Keep the WASI family alive. Share the opportunities. Don’t hide them. I know a lot of people get those mails where they say, you have not been selected. and nobody here because he didn’t tell anybody before he applied. He doesn’t share. And when he goes, they bounce him. Please share. It’s important. So if they don’t select you, they select your brother. Let’s do that because that is what is making us not growing. Especially the youth. When you get the opportunity, you hide it. You go there, they bounce you because you don’t fit the role. And you don’t even share the talent, they bounce you. I know people receive those mails like maybe 10 times in a week. They don’t tell anybody. Please share the opportunities with each other. And one day when we look back to see ministers among us, they will be around tomorrow. Honorable Sam George is a minister of state now in Ghana? Honorable Lydia, she’s a minister in Ghana? Unfortunately, Alajimbo will not be joining us from the Gambia. All those people came from this community through these opportunities. So if you reach the top when you become commissioner, when you become minister, ICT directors, please don’t forget us. Thank you very much. Merci. Obrigado. See you at the top. So, now we’ll do our presentation. Officials, you are free to stay and you are free to leave as well. Thank you very much for making this possible. We’ll do the presentation and later on we’ll share the agenda for the three days ahead of us. For those who want to be rapporteurs, you can volunteer. We’ll take your name down so that we can add them so that you can be rapporteurs. Yes, so we share the whole agenda so that we select rapporteurs for all those sessions. So I’ll start the presentation from my right. I go to, I start with myself. No, I think you have known me the whole week. So I start with Yao, then we pass the mic to others. So you tell us your name, your country and what you are doing or what you are bringing. Hello, my name is Yao Amevi Sosu. I’m from Benin. I currently live in Austria. I’m working as a research associate at the FHRNU University of Applied Science. I’m currently also the coordinator of the Benin Youth IGF and also a member of the Internet Governance Ecosystem back home in Benin. Thank you very much. Merci. Bonjour à tous, je m’appelle Coroné Massani. Je suis maintenant un retraité puisque j’ai été responsable de l’informatique au Niger pendant une quinzaine d’années. Après, je suis devenu parlementaire. Et ce qui m’a motivé, parce que c’est important de venir, non, j’ai déjà subi beaucoup d’inquiétude. Ce qui m’a motivé, j’ai 66 ans. C’est parce que l’IGF s’est arrêtée au Niger depuis sept ans. Et avec les nouveaux responsables de l’ICT dans mon pays, on a convenu de relancer et de revenir dans la communauté. Donc à partir d’octobre prochain, l’IGF nationale sera relancée au Niger. Et je pense qu’Emmanuel et Mélanie seront invités à cette occasion. Inch’Allah. Merci beaucoup. Merci pour l’invitation, je le prends. So, honorable, we don’t have translation anymore, please. Drop it. Start learning the French So yes, so he’s a he’s an MP from Niger. He has been several years civil servants on different role Top government official. He’s 66 years old But he has decided to attend this school this year. He has attended many schools. He attended the school this year just to advocate that the IGF in Niger, which has stopped since the The new government came, the military government came, he advocated that You should come and look for support to go and remobilize in Niger so that the IGF can continue So yes, he’s here among us as a very very senior man Just for that. Just to tell you the passion he has in this. So thank you very much. Honorable Thank you so much. We pass the mic to Our next

Audience: Good afternoon, everyone My name is Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Abrahman Barkindo Alkali My journey within the ecosystem started in 2011 At the Nigerian Association of Computer Science Students I was the National Public Relations Officer of Nigerian Association of Computer Science Students Later on, I met Amorphous into what we call Young Innovators of Nigeria Young Innovators of Nigeria then Was called Nida Knowledge Hub It was then during the Director General Dr. Peter Jack and later Dr. Vincent Olatunji when he was acting Director General of NIDA Young Innovators of Nigeria is aimed at fostering the growth of indigenous technology and local content Standing before you is the third president of Young Innovators of Nigeria. After Young Innovators of Nigeria, I was the, or I’m currently the director communications of Hardware Nigeria Community. Hardware Nigeria Community is the association of people developing the hardware ecosystem in Nigeria. It is aimed at, okay, so currently I’m the program secretary, Internet Society Nigeria chapter. I’m happy to be with you. Thank you very much.

Emmanuel Vitus: Thank you very much. We are happy to have you. Let’s keep it short. Nina is not here because if she was here, you’d be frustrated. So let’s keep it short.

Audience: Hello everyone. I’m in Nigeria so I will try to present myself in English. My name is Valerie Gouet and I come from Côte d’Ivoire. I am deputy director for the Digital Trust in the Ministry of Digital Transition. In our country, I am vice coordinator of National IGF. Thank you.

Emmanuel Vitus: Thank you very much Nadege. By the way, Nadege hosted us three years ago because Côte d’Ivoire hosted the West Africa IGF. Merci beaucoup Nadege. She’s called Nadege. Forget the Valerie part.

Audience: Hello everyone. Thank you. My name is Yaovi Azaso from Togo, residing in Ivory Coast, Côte d’Ivoire, sorry. So first of all, I’m fellow WASIK 2018. I think after that I had the privilege to coordinate the National IGF in Togo in 2019 and today I am an expert in fundraising and what we call project management. Thank you.

Emmanuel Vitus: Thank you very much Yaovi. So this was our Pioneer Fellows 2018 in Burkina. We just look at the program of tomorrow and after tomorrow. They will decide whether they want to report tomorrow or not.

Audience: Good evening everyone. I am Captain Joe Ubakare. I’m a Nigerian and I’m from Nigeria Army Cyber Warfare Command. I’m happy to be here. Thank you.

Emmanuel Vitus: You see what I mean that presentations are not good. You get it right?

Audience: Good day everyone. My name is Abdul Malik Radu and I’m Youth Advocate of Generation Unlimited Nigeria and as well as Young People Action Team and AU Reporter. Thank you.

Emmanuel Vitus: Thank you very much.

Audience: So my name is James Amate. I’m from Ghana. I’m from Internet Society Ghana. I am also the co-lead for the, what do they call it? It’s basically United for Smart Cities Coalition at the ITU. I am also a co-lead for the local representative communities at the OpenStreetMap Foundation. I’m also a capacity building coordinator for OpenStreetMap Ghana. And above all things, I’m a Chelsea fan.

Emmanuel Vitus: Thank you very much. I think everybody is listening.

Audience: Hello everyone, I am Oluwadam Nola Imano of Makinde. I’m Nigerian and I’m the head of administration and also the chief communication officer of HITECH Center for Nigeria Women and Youth. Thank you.

Emmanuel Vitus: Thank you very much. Please speak to the mic so that we can all hear you very well. And we want to keep that name.

Audience: Good evening everyone. I am Abdul Idris, a Nigerian. I’m a program analyst from National Assembly Service. Thank you very much Honorable. Good day everyone. My name is Joshua Ifrim. I’m a Nigerian. I’m also a program analyst from the Nigerian Parliament. Thank you very much. Good evening everyone. My name is Sidi Elhatubuktar. I’m from Nigeria. I’m also with the Cyber Security Department and the National Information Technology Development Agency, NIDA. NIDA. Thank you very much. Good evening everyone. My name is Uche Chikalu. I work with .NGCCTLD, that’s NIRA, Nigerian Internet Registration Association. We’re in charge of domain name registration in Nigeria. I’m also a member of Nigeria Internet Governance Forum since 2012. Thank you. Thank you very much. Good evening everyone. My name is Martha Ngedu, a Nigerian. I work with the National IGF here in Nigeria as part of the Secretariat. Thank you very much, Martha. Good evening, everyone. I’m Hussein Hamza. I’m a member of Internet Society of Nigeria. Thank you very much, Hussein. Good evening, everyone. My name is Honorable Alasana Cham. I’m a National Youth Parliamentarian from The Gambia and also a WASIK Fellow for 2024. And the Partnership and Outreach Coordinator for The Gambia Youth IGF. So Cham keeps confusing us. Anytime he says Honorable Cham, initially in Dakar, I thought he was an MP. I was so like boring. Sorry, Honorable. Honorable, are you okay? Until I got that this is a young parliamentarian. Thank you, Cham. My name is Binti Manseri from Sierra Leone. I’m a WASIK Fellow for 2024. I’m part of the ISOC and Internet Governance for Sierra Leone Executive. We are currently planning our event this June. I will be leading the school for Sierra Leone this year. And also, I’m a graphic designer, a digital security expert, and also a web designer. I’m currently doing my internship with UNDP in Sierra Leone. Thank you very much, Binti. And thank you for initiating the school in your country. Thank you so much. So I’ll be brief, please, Emmanuel. Please. Yeah. I was 10 when I saw Lotus123. I was 16 when I had my yahoo.com with three-letter password. I was 18 when I advocated for telecentres and cyber cafes, which still exist now. In 2005-2006, I became a NERA Board of Trustees and also a Pioneer member. 2010-2011, I came to ICANN44, Singapore. Douban, I think, 43 in South Africa. And in 2013, I became what you can call the acting chief operation officer for the Nigerian Internet Registration Association. I started the Nigerian Youth Internet Governance Forum with Mami Uduma. I don’t want to bother with too many because in 2023, I became an ICAN fellow and became a Palmo chain recipients. But to wrap it up, just go to, I’m a local content person, I’m a graphic expert. I’m always learning, I’m always willing to learn and I’m always willing to pass on. So, but if you want to really connect with me, go to akimbo.ng and stay cultural, stay local. Thank you. Thank you very much, Akimbo. Thank you for facilitating us. Okay, so my name is Chinwe Ogbuja, I’m a Nigerian. And I work, I volunteer with the West African Internet Governance Secretariat. Yes, I’m human. And because I don’t want to reel out all the whole thing academic and I don’t want to do any of that. I just want to say that I’m human. I love philanthropy, I’m a STEM advocate and I just love technology. Thank you very much. Thank you very much, Chinwe. So good evening, everyone. My name is Christiana Lunge, I’m a Nigerian. I’m a lawyer by training, but I currently work with the Center for Journalism, Innovation and Development. So it’s a media development and technology think tank, non-governmental organization in West Africa. So we work around, we lead initiatives around open data, election, innovation, investigative journalism, safety and welfare of journalists. And I currently am the project manager for the Media Freedom Project of the organization. So I just wanted to say that I. actually became interested in internet governance after attending a litigation surgery in 2022. Yeah, so since then I’ve been, I was privileged to attend the African School on Internet Governance in 2023 and I would just say my interest grew out of curiosity. Thank you. Thank you very much and I think now we can be telling people you hear from my lawyers. Hello, good evening everyone. My name is Chinedu Ngoye from Nigeria. I am a PhD research candidate in cybersecurity. I politic in my local area and again I engage in ICT advocacy in the local area Thank you. So, he’s a politician. No, I never said so. I said I politic. He’s a politician. Yeah, Prof. Okay, sorry. My name is Abdukarim Oluedi. I’m a professor of wireless telecommunications. I’m a Nigerian and I’m happy to be here and I think I am so excited that I’m part of this journey. At least the little I have been, I want to say it’s something that is so inspiring for me. Thank you very much. Thank you very much, Prof. Good evening everyone. My name is Abilahi Eliassu. I’m a cybersecurity analyst. I’m a Nigerian and I’m working at the National Information Technology Development Agency. Thank you. Thank you very much. I am an industrial engineer with a master’s degree in education and pedagogical engineering. Currently, I am the president of the Internet Society. I am also the president of FGI Mali and I am a founding member. Thank you. So, Kule, you have a job. Alright, so, good evening everyone. My name is Nyatefe Tochevi. I’m by spirit a Nigerian, born in Togo. So, my state is the center of unity. You already know which state is that. Actually, I’m living in Abuja here for three years now. I’m working at the West African Tax Administration Forum. My background is from tax administration, so I’m in secondment here at the WATAF, which is the regional organization that convened the 16th Tax Administration Forum of West Africa. So, our main goal is to advocate for domestic revenue mobilization, to advocate at various levels for an efficient tax system. So, I’m also a fellow of WASEEC 2021 and it’s a pleasure, a great pleasure for me to be part of this team. Thank you very much. Hello. Hello, good evening everyone. My name is Abdurahman Omarodoli. I’m a Nigerian from Nijder. Thank you for having all of you. Thank you, Mr. Emmanuel, for the knowledge you share to us. It’s very meaningful. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Hello, everyone. My name is Dr. Abul Fatih Al Husseini. I’m a Nigerian. I work with Galaxy Bangba Limited. And I’m very excited to be here. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Good evening, everyone. I’m SP Thomas Joseph. I’m a Nigerian. I’m with the ICT Department, Force Headquarters Abuja. Thank you. Hello, everyone. My name is Hafiz Toib. I’m from Ghana. I work with ENI Ghana. It’s called Ajip Gas over here. And I also work with Microsoft. I’m also the Country Director for Africa Center for Digital Transformation. We are a youth-led civil society organization. We initiate and also appraise policies which are digitally inclined. Thank you very much. Okay. Thank you. Hello, everyone. My name is Rejoice Maiowa. I am in Nigeria. I’m a Network and Collaboration Engineer and I heard about the Internet Governance from my mentor, Professor Louis DeWitt from the undergraduate days. He’s always preaching to us because, yes, he was my lecturer and I would like to use this opportunity to thank him for always putting us on the edge when opportunity comes. Thank you, sir. Thank you, Prof. So, I worked on a project, the eBorder project for Nigerian Immigration and so I’m currently open to new opportunities, testing waters in tech and cyber securities. Thank you. Thank you very much and it’s very important what she just said because Muriel is not here and I wish she was here to share her experience with you. Last year when we finished the school, she went ahead and took a course with Sorina. Sorina was here with us yesterday. She took the Diplo Foundation courses. You can get a scholarship. If you are interested in those courses, especially coming from Africa, you can get a scholarship and Muriel did the course. Today, she worked for Diplo Foundation. That’s the reason why they are not here because they are training diplomats currently in Abuja, coincidentally. So, we finished the school in July. She got a job three weeks ago at Diplo Foundation. So, it’s always because she shared her experience with us that now she’s not doing anything. She’s open to opportunity and two weeks later, they asked her, can you join us? She had a job now. So, please share those. Don’t be shy about it. I’m still looking for opportunities. So, please, please do that. So, thank you very much. Good evening, everyone. My name is Fola Arame Umuru. I’m a Nigerian lawyer but I have been transitioning to cyber security for about a year now. So I’m currently a cyber security governess, risk management and compliance analyst at Raza Technology. I’m interested in digital rights, safeguarding of digital rights. I’m interested in um you know internet governance and policy development. Thank you so much. Now you’ll hear from my lawyers. They are two now. Okay. Thank you very much Fola. Okay. Thank you. Um good evening everybody. Firstly, I want to thank God for this. Okay. Good evening everybody. First, I want to thank God for this opportunity and all glory belongs to him because I’m really grateful that I’m learning from you people and I’m getting a lot of opportunities from here. I’m Chisholm Joanne Onwemeka, a Nigerian. Professionally, I’m a Liberian and information manager and I’m the founder of Joko North Enterprise. It’s a social enterprise that has a CSR activity where we voluntarily go to secondary school to advocate and create awareness about the sustainable development goals. Um also I’m volunteering as a youth coordinator for Kings Patriot Development Foundation. This is a foundation that helps in empowering young people to amplify their voice and link them to opportunities. So um I’m open to collaboration. I’m open to sponsorship. I’m open to mentorship. Thank you very much. Thank you. My LinkedIn on the group. So anybody that you want to connect, please do. Thank you very much. When I grew up, I want to be like you. She’s not shy. Hello. Good evening everyone. My name is Esther Hamzat and of course I’m from your host country, Nigeria. and I work as a Programme Analyst for a cybersecurity certification called ISACA. And outside my professional role, I do a lot of volunteering work for STEM programmes for girls and digital security awareness for vulnerable groups like kids and younger adults. So, I recently authored a book which has to do with internet safety for kids. So, if there’s anybody who is interested or share that interest, you can reach out to me so we can collaborate on that. And I have the book here with me so you can just come and have a look. Thank you. Thank you very much. Good evening, everyone. I am Bilamin Umar by name from Sokoto, Nigeria. I am one of the first fellows of Nigerian School on Internet Governance, WASIKFILO 2021. And I am currently the Public Relations Officer, Internet Society, Nigerian Chapter. Thank you very much, Umar. We want to know our MC. Oh, my God. My name is Kinyo Sawaboke. Someone pointed out to me yesterday that I did not introduce myself. So, my name is Kinyo Sawaboke. I work with the National Information Technology Development Agency as their Communications Officer in their Corporate Communications and Media Relations Department. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. All right. Thank you very much. My name is Kunle Olorundarin. I’m the President of Internet Society, Nigerian Chapter, and I coordinate Nigerian School on Internet Governance. Please, let me just say this. I’ve heard a lot of names, beautiful names, you know. And please, I want to use this opportunity to… who invite you to join the Nigerian chapter of Internet Society. Please, so all you need to do is just, if I just Google Internet Society, once you Google that, it comes up with internetsociety.org, right, then you see join us. Just click on that, it doesn’t take more than three minutes. Once you join the global body, then it will now ask you to join the chapter. You see the names of countries in alphabetical order, and of course, just go to N. You see Niger first, but don’t join Niger, you join Nigeria, okay, and that’s all. Please join us. We are doing a lot of things that I’m sure you really want to be part of, so you’re welcome. Thank you very much.

Emmanuel Vitus: Thank you very much, Kunle, and I invite all of you to join the chapter. I’m also a chapter president, and it’s always good to join the Internet Society because all the opportunities are there. Akimbo said he has one word.

ICANN member: Good evening, everyone. Akimbo, I didn’t mean for the record. In ICANN, we just, you know, we say for the record, but I avoided it here because that was not part of it. But over the past two days, 48 hours, I’ve done my best to look around and to see our level of interaction and communication. And I’m sorry I bought just one. I’m owing like five different people, but I was able to streamline it to just three persons. The other two will not get it here because they’re in Nigeria. The other person will get it because they are not in Nigeria. So in no particular order, I’m that. Oh, sorry, there are four. I’m that. The lady from Ekiti is also qualified. She knows herself. Please, wave all three. a wave offering from the ATT lady aha, yeah, yeah and then, where is Amzat? Amzat? Esther Esther, Amzat who is Esther? wave, wave your hand ok, she is lost in thought and Fola yes, they are all in Nigeria so, don’t worry, it will get to you in good time ensure that you attend an ISOC training or meeting and you will get it so, but the last person gets it because there are times you meet people at the training and they just live with themselves and their world they don’t interact, they don’t ask questions she is the only person that has been asking questions up and down and not because I am sitting by her side because she did it by the door, she did it by the side and we ended up sitting together please a round of applause for Bintia for being a true African, a true West African please stand up on your feet, if I don’t have the cameras to take pictures I will give you your gifts standing, thank you once again, round of applause

Emmanuel Vitus: so Bintia was just qualified maybe I can see it thank you very much, I think I can do something with it thank you very much so, I think we have actually spent a lot of time we will quickly go through the agenda so you look at it, if there are sessions that speak to you and you want to report on them please, we will write your name down you attend the session, you take notes and you send it to us the same day the IGF, the meaning is what, we get the live reporting to write what we call the communique for the closing ceremony so we go through the agenda and I would love if every fellow here for those who are online as well you can be rapporteur because the meeting will be hybrid it will be in English in French and it will also be in Portuguese so please put the agenda for us we’ll go through it quickly starting from tomorrow the U5GF so we’ll be writing your name down don’t raise your hand put your name there and not show up you’ll be blacklisted I promise you yes yeah so tomorrow we have the open so this the agenda for tomorrow morning for example we have the open ceremony and then after the open ceremony we have the first session so yeah volunteer for the opening ceremony of the U5GF and it’s simple for those who don’t have the agenda is everyone here having the agenda all of you you can go to the agenda you see the speakers but you don’t need that I mean to do the rapporteuring all of you will be at the U5GF tomorrow so I need volunteer for opening ceremony where we’ll have the official speeches any volunteer or should we start assigning people Bakary so the the old man in the room want to be the rapporteur for the U5GF shame on you guys okay the next session is the rapporteur for this session is Bakary We need one rapporteur per session, but for the high-level panels, we will need two people. What time you…? Ah, tomorrow. Yeah. So Bakari will be there, we will have Senator Salisu, Anya Ndengo, Paula K, Dr. Wariwe. The high-level panel, which is the main panel for the youth, building a resilient, inclusive and safe digital future for West Africa, we need rapporteurs on the main panel. Rapporteur for the main panel, the youth main panel, is tomorrow 10 a.m. If they are on time. 10 a.m. Okay, we have Fola Romi. Fola Romi. Is it okay, like, how we write your name? Write Fola, please. Okay. We’ll have a tea break, then we’ll have a session. Somebody wants to report on tea break. In West Africa? We already… We have somebody who sent an email since yesterday that she wants to be rapporteur for that particular session. She’s here. Hamzat Esther. She sent an email that she wants to be rapporteur for that session. Because I think she works on a topic. similar to that. Esther, right? Okay. There. Yeah, we’ll tell them later. Esther Hamzat. Yes. The first Workshop is on Disinformation, Democracy and Digital Rights. It will be Francophone Africa Experience and I want a Francophone on that session because everything will be in French. So, Nadege, naturally, has been appointed. The next one, National AI Policies and Startup Ecosystems in West Africa. Who will be appointed for that session? Any volunteers? You don’t like startups? Who? Akimbo, thank you very much. The next session will be with Professor Oloyo De. It will be on Universal Acceptance and the new GTLDs, the New Generic Top Level Domain Names. Any volunteers? Else, we will start appointing people. Yes, but we need somebody for the Universal Acceptance session. Like-minded people. When it’s technical, everybody runs away. Is he joining on the panel, Akimbo? Do you have a rapporteur already? So, we need a rapporteur on that session. Yes, she doesn’t have a choice. And if she doesn’t do it, I can go to Prof. Yeah, I mean, if we don’t have the report, we go to Prof. The AI and Education in West Africa, Shaping Policy and Responsible Integration. Yeah, the AI session, the name? No, I’ll take the easiest. Umar. Integrating AI in Data Governance in West Africa, DPI The Open Ceremony. That one, the person who will take that report, there will be two. It’s the Open Ceremony, the official Open Ceremony for the events, the main events. Where we’ll have all the honourable ministers, honourable officers, we have the AOV. Who else? We want somebody to… No, we are not there yet. Mata. So we have Mata and AOV. So… AOV and Mata, yes. Think global, build local, DPI for West Africa. How come we have DPI? So yeah, Sham will do that session for us. Alassane Sham. This one? Okay, 10.30. Open it at 10.30. We have to put AOV and Mata before. So, put those two things one at a time. So, we can put AOV and Mata because we’ll have the Opening Ceremony for the Parliamentarian track before we have the main Opening Ceremony. But you do both. We’ll have the Parliamentarians’ Opening. Before we do the main event opening ceremony, so we put you on the both opening ceremony They are not happening at the same time. So don’t worry. You do one and move to the other Parliamentarian track they are doing their opening It’s still here. Yeah Like not in the room, but when you come you know where It will be on the agenda. I mean every session will have its room name For the keynotes who want to be Okay, those who bring the opening ceremony do the keynotes That’s why you are too because the minister will be at the opening ceremony and he’ll do the keynote as well The next session is the main High level panel of this year team building a resilient inclusive and safe digital future for West Africa Who will be a reporter for that session? That is our main session Don’t be scared. We need to we need two people here James who else we want two people on that panel Pinty thank you very much Later on we’ll have a roundtable discussion with members of parliament. They join them at the parliamentarian track. She’s so Please show up all of you don’t betray me. She’s so muscle. Yeah. Okay, good. Okay Later on we have Yes Who Yeah, but she saw me is on that session we want it down here it’s fine You Okay, we’ll have a The next session will be on enhancing digital resilience cyber security data protection for that You It’s a different bar. Okay, Beyond Awareness, Embedding Digital Security Practices in Marginalized Communities. It will be a workshop. Hello? Hello? Can we have a volunteer for that session quickly? Any volunteer for that session? Beyond Awareness, Embedding Digital Security Practices. Wait, don’t waste your time. Sorry, you take the next session because this session we are taking it down. Yes. So, Green in West Africa, Digital Future, Addressing Tech-Driven Emissions. Do we have somebody from Greenpeace here? Yes, so your session is what time? 16.30. Who can replace Christiana on the legislative framework? I think she should be with the parliamentarians. You are already there since morning. So you continue with them. I think it makes sense. I think those who are in the parliamentarian track, you can do more, I mean more sessions so that you attend their sessions. So that you will not be running up and down. Good. So you put Shiso there to replace Christiana. Beyond awareness, embedding, so that one is not there. So greening West Africa’s digital future. Do we have somebody from Greenpeace? Oh, wow. We don’t have a climate change advocate here. Who wants to be a volunteer on that session? We’ll make sure that at the end of the day, you report on the session. Who? Okay, Hussain. Good. Strengthening digital security for investigative journalists in West Africa, Baritha Longi. Who will be reporting on that session for us? Rapporteur for the session? No. She’s having a session at the same time, cyber security session. Who? So we take the guy who just nominated Fola. Who said the name? James. So write his name down there. On the final day on Friday, model for voice translation system for West African languages in the case of pandemic. Who wants to be a volunteer for that session? West African languages on the Internet. Who wants to be a volunteer? Can I see one hand? Marta, Friday morning, why you say no? Who will be here Friday morning to give us? We need to appoint people to those sessions. You know what? Write Fanny to that session. Yeah, if he doesn’t miss his flight. Strengthening digital rights protection stands as the best practice model. I think it’s for with the parliamentarian. Shiso, will you be here in the morning? Good. It’s 8am to 9am. Will you still be squatting in Abuja? The other session is building secure and trust digital multi-stakeholder perspective. Do we have any volunteer for that session? Who? Do we have any volunteer? This is Friday. So those who did a volunteering on Thursday, you can come back the next day. And choose to volunteer. Binti. You are leaving on Friday, what time? 8am or in the evening? 8pm. Yeah, but you give us your report before you go. Okay, good. You give it to Binti. Pause, pause, pause. Give it to Binti. Internet shutdowns, who is interested? Rapporteur on internet shutdowns. Who? Put the name down No, we don’t need a rapporteur for that advancing west africa digital future through the global digital compact Who will be rapporteur for that session digital gdc people Gdc people Group one group two, we don’t have any volunteer really What time You are Okay, but that is not noon it’s in the morning 9 00 am 9 00 am Put her name down Break partner session. Okay for the parliamentarians For the parliamentarians You’ll still be there It will be amplified the african voices so you can see So the next session is a high level panel digital public infrastructure policy harmonization and digital cooperation Put james there You see how people are passionate about topics Yes, so this one is akimbo session do you have a rapporteur Yeah, we’ll add them and matter He sent it he sent it to me I did a mistake he sent it to that whatsapp So Do we have a rapporteur for this session? No, not DPI, but it’s another session on DPI that Akimbo will be doing with Marta. Should we appoint somebody? Should we appoint somebody? No, I think we should have a volunteer in the room. No, I think we should have a volunteer in the room. Hello? Let’s just finish guys. Do we have any rapporteur for this session? Yes. Come again? Well, we finished the Thursday. We are on Friday now. We don’t have any volunteer. Well, we finished the Thursday. We are on Friday now. We don’t have any volunteer. Akimbo? Okay, we move on to the next. Akimbo is working on it. He’ll find somebody. Do you have it? Okay, fine. Then you get us a rapporteur. Yeah, we are not having somebody. You do it. Umar will do it. And I think it’s a nice succession as well. Umar will do it. It’s a nice succession. Yes, Umar. For the parliamentarian, I still leave Chisholm there. Yes. Enhancing digital resilience, navigating online threats, and privacy risk at the digital age. Esther, explore AI and technological innovation to improve public policy and foster economy. Who’s on that session? We have three sessions left so we are almost done. So which session is left? Explore technological innovation to improve public policy and foster innovation. Who is traveling today? Put Keja there, sorry. Oh you’ll be on that session? Okay, add her to it as well. We’ll correct the names later. Yes, we know you, you can’t run. So yes, rejoice. I think we are done, right? For the parliamentary closing, put Shisom again. She’ll be there with the MPs throughout. AI, AI data governance and innovation for development. Okay, we have somebody. For the closing ceremony, wow, that’s a very important ceremony. We need two people. Bakary, will you help us with the closing ceremony? On Friday, I’ll put you with the Togolese. Okay, we’ll put Bakary. Masa, Pura Ceremondo Knochuyo Now we are done. Thank you everyone. So I see you tomorrow.

Agreement points

Importance of multi-stakeholder participation in internet governance

Speakers

– Mary Uduma
– Emmanuel Vitus
– Audience

Arguments

Importance of multi-stakeholder participation

Regional cooperation is important for West Africa

Parliamentarians and government officials should engage in IG

Summary

Speakers agree on the need for diverse stakeholders, including young people, government officials, and regional partners, to actively participate in internet governance processes.

Promoting active engagement in internet governance

Speakers

– Mary Uduma
– ICANN member
– Moderator

Arguments

Importance of multi-stakeholder participation

Importance of interaction and communication at training events

Importance of volunteering as rapporteurs

Summary

Speakers emphasize the importance of active participation, engagement, and volunteering in internet governance events and processes.

Similar viewpoints

Both speakers highlight the importance of engaging young people in internet governance and emerging technologies, emphasizing the career opportunities in these fields.

Speakers

– Mary Uduma
– Salisu Kaka

Arguments

Importance of multi-stakeholder participation

AI and new technologies create new career opportunities

Unexpected consensus

Revitalization of national IGFs

Speakers

– Audience
– Mary Uduma

Arguments

Countries should revive national IGFs

Importance of multi-stakeholder participation

Explanation

There was an unexpected consensus on the need to revitalize national Internet Governance Forums, with both audience members and Mary Uduma emphasizing their importance for addressing local internet governance issues.

Overall assessment

Summary

The main areas of agreement include the importance of multi-stakeholder participation, active engagement in internet governance processes, and the need to revitalize national IGFs.

Consensus level

There appears to be a high level of consensus among speakers on these key points, which suggests a shared understanding of the challenges and priorities in internet governance for West Africa. This consensus could facilitate more coordinated efforts in addressing regional internet governance issues and promoting capacity building in the field.

Different viewpoints

Unexpected differences

Overall assessment

Summary

No significant disagreements were identified among the speakers.

Disagreement level

Low. The speakers generally expressed aligned views on the importance of internet governance, multi-stakeholder participation, and regional cooperation. This alignment suggests a shared vision for advancing internet governance in West Africa, which could facilitate more cohesive policy-making and implementation efforts in the region.

Partial agreements

Similar viewpoints

Both speakers highlight the importance of engaging young people in internet governance and emerging technologies, emphasizing the career opportunities in these fields.

Speakers

– Mary Uduma
– Salisu Kaka

Arguments

Importance of multi-stakeholder participation

AI and new technologies create new career opportunities

Key takeaways

Resolutions and action items

Unresolved issues

Suggested compromises

I want to implement, I want to be part of IGF at national level. I want to be part of IGF in my country, part of IGF in my country, because we are not just here to do this for formality. We want to prepare you.

Speaker

Mary Uduma

Reason

This comment emphasizes the importance of active participation and implementation, not just passive learning. It challenges participants to take concrete action.

Impact

It set an expectation for participants to engage beyond the event and take ownership of internet governance in their countries.

Please don’t go home and put this thing on the shelf. C, we are handing over to, I am handing over to young people like, have you seen me since this thing started?

Speaker

Mary Uduma

Reason

This reinforces the call to action and highlights the generational transition happening in internet governance.

Impact

It emphasized the responsibility being placed on younger participants to carry the work forward.

So fellows, partners, distinguished guests, I don’t want to observe protocol because I don’t see anybody here for protocol. We are now a family.

Speaker

Emmanuel Vitus

Reason

This comment breaks down formal barriers and establishes a sense of community among participants.

Impact

It shifted the tone of the discussion to be more collaborative and informal, encouraging open sharing.

As we say in Africa, if you want to go fast, go alone. But if you want to go far, go together. I want us to go far together.

Speaker

Emmanuel Vitus

Reason

This proverb encapsulates the collaborative spirit of internet governance and emphasizes long-term impact over short-term gains.

Impact

It reinforced the importance of cooperation and community-building in the field.

Please share the opportunities with each other. And one day when we look back to see ministers among us, they will be around tomorrow.

Speaker

Emmanuel Vitus

Reason

This comment encourages knowledge sharing and paints an inspiring vision of future leadership emerging from the group.

Impact

It motivated participants to view each other as potential future leaders and to support one another’s growth.

Overall assessment

These key comments shaped the discussion by establishing a strong sense of community, emphasizing the importance of active participation and implementation, and encouraging participants to view themselves as future leaders in internet governance. The speakers, particularly Mary Uduma and Emmanuel Vitus, consistently pushed participants to think beyond the event itself and consider their long-term roles in shaping internet policy in their countries and the region. This created a forward-looking, action-oriented tone for the discussion and likely inspired many participants to consider how they could contribute more actively to internet governance initiatives.