By: Bashir Hassan
Youth Adolescent Health Initiatives and Counselling (YAHIC), a Bauchi-based civil society organization, hosted young leaders, mentors, and civil society partners at the BUILD 2026 Summit on Saturday, August 29, 2026, in Bauchi.
The strategic gathering aimed to empower youth-led organizations and foster community-driven solutions to sustainable development challenges across the state.
In a welcome address, YAHIC Executive Director Eswayi Ikpi Polycarp framed the event as an incubator for practical grassroots action rather than a passive conference. She highlighted that BUILD provides a structural bridge connecting youth innovation, strategic partnerships, and community resource deployment.
”BUILD is a platform designed to connect ideas, relationships, and opportunities for measurable community impact,” Polycarp noted.
She urged participants to leverage the upcoming BUILD Fellowship, mentorship tracks, and direct innovation grants to scale their initiatives, calling on attendees to “learn, connect, challenge existing paradigms, and build.”
Keynote speaker Dr. Lucius Andee Iheme addressed the assembly on “From Potential to Impact: Young People Driving Sustainable Development,” outlining pathways for translating youth-led research and local ideas into scalable interventions.
Complementing this, Mrs. Titi Yakubu delivered a charge on civic accountability and localized leadership.
She reminded participants that proximity to social challenges positions community members to design the most effective, context-specific solutions, urging attendees to prioritize organized advocacy, cross-sector collaboration, and proactive problem-solving.
The summit featured interactive thematic working groups, mentorship roundtables, and a panel exploring cross-generational leadership models.
Goodwill messages from key government agencies, development partners, and non-state actors underscored the vital role of grassroots civil society platforms in advancing local governance and youth inclusion.
YAHIC reaffirmed its institutional commitment to expanding the BUILD framework into an annual strategy for youth-led advocacy, leadership development, and structural community engagement across Northern Nigeria.
