By History was made on Wednesday after a medical doctor, Azeezat Yishawu was elected as the first female Speaker of the Nigerian Youth Parliament.
Yishawu emerged as the Parliament’s fifth Speaker after she polled 50 votes to defeat John Oyelami of the Oyo State Youth Parliament who had 48 votes after a rerun, during an election held at the Senate arm of the National Assembly in Abuja.
A graduate of the Lagos State University, the speaker-elect was also the first female Speaker of the Lagos State University Medical Students Association. She led the senate arm of LASUMSA between October 2017 and October 2018.
She is a medical doctor and member of the Lagos State Youth Parliament with over four years of active experience in grassroots mobilisation, citizen engagement and stakeholder management. She has worked with NGOs like Involve Africa, Constitution Lab, etc. to advance democracy and human rights.
Yishawu is a Carrington Youth Alumnae, a Fellow at the USA International Visitor Leadership Program and the Young Women Political Leadership School.
She is the Founder of Ethics and Political Leadership Foundation, a non-profit organization committed to driving effective democracy, good governance in Nigeria; and Co-founder of ConstitutionLab – a youth-led organization committed to providing Nigerians with working knowledge of the Nigerian Constitution.
