Hamzat Lawal

Hamzat Lawalis an anti-corruption activist. He is the initiator of Follow The Money, and the founder of Connected Development, a non-profit organization that comprises data analysts, journalists, activists, and students.

Hamzat attended Model Primary School Asokoro, and served as a Boys Scout leader. During his secondary school, at Government Secondary School Karu in Nasarawa State, he was also a coordinator of Boys Scout and Utility Prefect. He completed his secondary school at Seta International College, Nasarawa State.

Hamzat Lawal is a graduate of the University of Abuja with a bachelor's degree in Political Science

He has worked as a Rep Serviceman in an IT firm and later worked as an IT specialist with International Centre for Energy, Environment and Development (ICEED) during which his passion for climate change grew. When his boss noticed area of his passion, he gave him a United Nations Framework on Climate Change website to research about climate change and after going through documents and protocols, he developed more interest on that area. He later registered with many Climate change platforms and participated in several activities.

In 2012, Hamzat was grieved by the poisoning that took place in Zamfara state two years earlier. When he realized that nobody was talking about the disaster and the people affected after killing more than 400 people, he embarked on a 14 hours journey to the community, Bagega, where the incident took place to learn more about the aftermath of the problem. This propelled him to towards community activism and to start a grass root movement known as Follow The Money, using data to hold government accountable, and demanding action from government agencies.

Hamzat started his activism while in University of Abuja, then he was responsible for advocating for good student leaders. He has spoken out against corruption, human rights abuse and disfranchisement of community members. In 2013, he was almost arrested by Department of State Securities(DSS) after they accused him of instigating youths against government.

He is a co-convener of the Not Too Young To Run movement, a Nigerian Youth movement whose support for young people's right to run for political offices ensured that an age reduction bill was passed across the country promoting youth inclusion in Nigeria's politics. He is an executive board member of African Youth Initiative on Climate Change(AIYCC)

• One Africa Award
• 100 Most Influential in Digital Government
• African Economic Merits Award