The idea for a communications outfit that would be at the forefront of change for Nigerians young people came to the three founders in 2004. By 2005, the organization has been registered, fully becoming a Limited Liability Company in 2006.
The founders were at that time all below the age of 20. Two of them were producers and presenters of a popular youth talk show on national television (Nigeria Television Authority), Youth Talk, whilst the third member was Producer of Nigeria’s most popular talk show at the time, New Dawn with Funmi Iyanda (NTA Network and DSTV) as well as a columnist with Thisday Newspaper – the column, Sons & Daughters sought to close the unhealthy social divide amongst Nigeria’s youth.
They formed RedSTRAT because they looked round the country and were fed up with a media that focused on young people involved in internet fraud, waiting at the embassies to leave the country, fighting in the Niger Delta and so on. In their work in the media, they had come across thousands of young Nigerians who were positive role models and were adding value to the society – they decided it was their duty to present this critical majority of young people to the nation, to change the narrative of young Nigerians and to inspire their generation at the same time.
Their chosen method of achieving this was to take charge of the mainstream media to send out these positive messages and images of and to young Nigerians, and decided to would target young people between the ages of 16 and 35, with various projects that target groups and sectors of young people within that age bracket. This strategy has been overwhelmingly successful.
Over the past few years that this brand has become Nigeria’s foremost and most respected youth resource company, some of its ideas that have been discontinued include Sons & Daughters (Sunday Thisday), Youth Reloaded (Comet Newspapers), “Y” Reloaded (The Applause Magazine) and the Young Writers’ Network, which has evolved into theFreelance Writers Network. Most of the ideas have given way to bigger projects that you see on the homepage.
WHY PRIVATE SECTOR
RedSTRAT was formed at a period when the NGO sector was suffering a crisis of confidence. With a multiplicity of NGOs, and very little perceptible impact, initiatives being spurned by these organizations – however laudable – did not connect with young Nigerians, and because RedSTRAT was committed to ideas that would actually produce maximum impact, it decided that a new strategy would be required.
Fortunately, the background of its founders and directors had them working with organizations that, whilst focused on developmental outcomes, were part of the private sector, and thus it was a natural transition to use the skills and experiences learnt to create the change they sought.
Ultimately RedSTRAT is formed on the strong conviction that the private sector is what will eventually drive the Nigerian economy out of its present conundrum – so that even though through its projects it regularly engages and employs civil society, it will use a private sector organization to achieve this end, taking advantage of the flexibility that would come with it.
Businesses can be profitable whilst still driving and creating change, and at its essence, RedSTRAT is about social entrepreneurship. And like all social entrepreneurs, it seeks innovative solutions to society’s most pressing social problems. It is ambitious and persistent, tackling major social issues and offering new ideas for wide-scale change.
Rather than leaving societal needs to the government or conventional business sectors, the organization finds what is not working and solves the problem by changing the system, spreading the solution, and persuading entire societies to take new leaps. Seizing opportunities others miss and improving systems, inventing new approaches, and creating solutions to change society for the better. Their task, in essence, is to come up with new solutions to social problems and then implements them on a large scale.
Whilst visionaries, they are also realists, concerned with the practical implementation of their vision above all else and so they present that are user-friendly, understandable, ethical, and engage widespread support in order to maximize the number of local people that will stand up, seize their idea, and implement with it. On this foundation, RedSTRAT was formed, and has visibly grown from strength to strength.
Contact Details
Address:
RedSTRAT Communications
14, Shofidiya Street,
Off Adegoke Street, Off Olufemi Street,
Off Ogunlana Street,
Surulere, Lagos.
Phone #:
070-2810-1959
080-2397-7421
0803-379-2175
Email:
