Ier Jonathan-Ichaver left her career at the UN to help internally displaced people in Nigeria. After years of her foundation’s intervention, she realized the root was a broken political system. Ier shares her political experience and how young people can become change-makers in Nigeria.
Ier Jonathan-Ichaver left a promising career at the United Nations and returned to Nigeria to help internally displaced people restart their lives through her work at the Sesor Empowerment Foundation. For Ier it was personal, her grandmother was displaced by conflict and it provided extra motivation for her in helping displaced people. Little did she know that she would end up helping tens of thousands of people in the same situation.
After many years of providing this vital intervention, she realized that the root cause of many of the issues she was seeing was a lack of good leadership and a broken political system, and she decided to do something about it to effect the change she wanted to see.
In 2023, Ier decided to run for political office as a candidate for the Federal House of Representatives in Kwande/Ushongo constituency in Benue state. Her decision to enter politics stems from her belief that the political system in Nigeria needs change. She is inspired by the "office of the citizen" concept, which empowers the people to hold their leaders accountable.
Ichaver highlights the need for a values-based leadership, a more equitable and just political system, and an empowered electorate. She believes that the current system is not serving the needs of the people and that new minds and energy are needed to bring about positive change.
In this chat with Ier, she would share her political experience and how young people can build the capacity to become change-makers and leaders in their careers and for the positive transformation of Nigeria. Click here to register and be a part of this; https://forms.gle/sfuSArtMM9wr8z3c7
