Afrobeats star Oladapo Daniel Oyebanjo, popularly known as D’banj, has partnered with the United Nations (UN) to launch the Nigerian Youth Positively Driven (NYPD) initiative, a nationwide movement aimed at empowering young people and highlighting their positive community impact.
The initiative, unveiled at the UN@80 celebration in Abuja alongside the launch of the Creative Alliance for Peace, seeks to shift national focus toward progress, innovation, and the individuals driving change across Nigeria. It also comes months after Afreximbank invested in D’banj’s C.R.E.A.M Platform, which now serves as the backbone for the NYPD project.
Through the NYPD portal, young Nigerians are encouraged to upload short videos documenting positive actions happening in their communities. Each week, individuals featured in the winning entries will receive a ₦1,000,000 grant, while the creators who upload the videos will receive ₦250,000. The reward system is structured to inspire more young people to identify, promote, and participate in acts that uplift society.
According to information on the NYPD portal, once the C.R.E.A.M Platform completes the reward cycle, the winning videos are transferred to the Creative Alliance for Peace for further amplification and community deployment. The alliance will also drive sustainability-focused projects, including renewable energy solutions, as part of its broader national development agenda.
D’banj said the initiative was born from the need to provide young creatives with a stronger platform and a unified voice.
“When you talk about the creative industry, we all know that today, content is the biggest export that we have as a nation,” he said. “Unfortunately, we don’t have enough strong alliances or platforms where the youths can effectively access support.”
He added that despite Africa’s vast potential, only a fraction has been explored.
“Africa is the biggest when it comes to creativity and we have not even scratched 20%. I think it is so important to come together to have that voice,” he said.
According to him, the NYPD movement is a call for collaboration and shared purpose.
“We’re moving and the movement is called Nigerian Youths Positively Driven (NYPD). With it, we have created the alliance and we now need the youths who are positively driven to jump on it.”
With the portal now open for entries nationwide, the NYPD initiative is expected to accelerate youth engagement, celebrate positive acts, and channel creative energy toward national development.
