Former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega, is set to headline the inaugural WeCare Leadership Conference slated for August 20, 2026, in Bauchi, focusing on youth innovation, ethical governance, and national development.

Organized by the WeCare Centre for Community Awareness and Empowerment Initiative, the summit will center on the theme, “Driving Youth Innovation and Alternative Solutions: Pathway to Nation Building.”

Event coordinators stated that the forum will convene youth representatives, policymakers, educators, civil society advocates, development experts, and entrepreneurs to analyze how youth ingenuity and grass-roots initiatives can advance Nigeria’s growth trajectory.

According to the organizers, the gathering comes at a crucial period requiring more inclusive and practical interventions to address systemic hurdles, such as youth unemployment, unequal access to opportunities, frail social infrastructure, and dwindling public confidence in conventional national development strategies.

They emphasized that the summit aims to move beyond theoretical discussions by fostering the creation of practical, community-centered, and measurable frameworks designed to deliver lasting impacts across local communities.

The initiative is speared by the founder of WeCare Centre and former Bauchi State Commissioner for Education, Dr. Jamila Mohammed Dahiru, who asserted that young Nigerians must be equipped not only to seek personal opportunities but to engineer solutions and actively engage in nation-building.

Dahiru noted that the organization’s philosophy connects education, empowerment, and responsible governance, highlighting WeCare’s track record of interventions across education, women and youth advancement, humanitarian aid, healthcare, digital inclusion, leadership development, and civic participation.

The entity has, among other programs, facilitated the re-entry of over 390 out-of-school children into formal schooling in Bauchi State and distributed more than N3 million in direct support to over 200 women and youths, alongside healthcare, scholarship, and relief initiatives.

Its leadership pipeline projects also feature the 2026 WeCare Leadership and Impact Mentorship Programme, which picked 50 young participants from a pool of applicants across Nigeria, Ghana, Zambia, and Rwanda for a 10-week intensive training covering transformative leadership, governance, civic duty, communication, and digital competency.

The organizers affirmed that the debut conference will build upon these existing efforts by offering a structured arena for serious reflection, multi-sector collaboration, and pragmatic action, while challenging key players to recognize young Nigerians as innovators, responsible citizens, and essential partners in fostering national progress.