Two towns, thirty young people, and a cause that has waited for too long. FESTAC and Gbagada didn’t know each other, not really. Different streets, different people, different histories. But over 4 weeks, something remarkable happened: SPF wove their stories together, and the ARTvocacy movement made progress.
The young creatives felt a change by the opportunity given to them and the sense that something important was about to unfold. Thirty ARTvocates stepped in, unsure but curious, the kind of curiosity that stretches a mind and refuses to shrink back. It felt like they were stepping into a new skin by shy introductions, bonding, laughter, and then the thud of real learning.
In FESTAC, Mr Kunle’s words cut through the air like bright truth. In Gbagada, Mr Ezenwa Okoro opened the room with a round table on introduction to advocacy that made everyone sit up straighter.
In such little time, the concepts of child protection, advocacy, safety, and voice were no longer abstract. These young people were meeting themselves in the mirror, and some saw cracks they’d never named. Others saw strength they never knew they carried. But everyone saw the urgency: child domestic workers needed defenders, and they were rising to answer that call.
With a mixture of play, silliness, depth, and decades of lived activism, our facilitators came correct. Our ARTvocates experienced movement building beyond theory, they felt the heartbeat. It was personal. It was transformational. Strengths became power. Weaknesses became tools. And thirty young people began to understand the shape of their own influence.
In FESTAC, the award-winning voice director Mr Remi Olutimayin, held court at the Writer’s Corner like a healer. Writers poured out raw, quiet, and unfiltered childhood memories. Their stories made the room still.
For both bootcamps, the most powerful moment was the conversation with survivors of child domestic work. Not fiction. Not theory. Real stories. Real wounds. The Artvocates listened, really listened, and something changed. Passion was reborn. Commitment deepened. Thirty hearts aligned.
And then it was time for performance.
On August 15 in FESTAC, “HELP!” hit the stage with the hall filled to the brim with partners, officials, neighbours, artvocates. The lights didn’t dim for drama; they dimmed to make space for truth. The audience slipped into the shoes of the unseen: children holding brooms instead of books, bearing burdens instead of birthdays. Tears flowed and their resolve hardened. FESTAC was activated and we have defenders standing up for the rights of the children.
Then Gbagada stepped forward with the play, “BOBO”. Four weeks of sculpting. Four weeks of discipline. Four weeks of stretching talent into purpose. When they finally took the stage on September 20, it wasn’t just theatre. Music, drama, storytelling blended into one bold declaration: children deserve protection. Every single one.
Our plays made the news. A new movement, strong, urgent, unstoppable, announced itself in Gbagada. And just like that, the two towns stood shoulder to shoulder.
