THE Executive Director of Paradigm Initiative, ‘Gbenga Sesan, has been appointed member of the Advisory Network of the Freedom Online Coalition (FOC), an intergovernmental coalition committed to advancing internet freedom worldwide.
Sesan, the prominent Nigerian digital rights expert, founded the Pan-African social enterprise, Paradigm Initiative, in 2007, and had led the organisation to become a leading digital rights and inclusion advocacy organisation in Africa.
‘Gbenga was Nigeria’s first Information Technology Youth Ambassador and served as the Vice Chair of United Nations Economic Commission for Africa’s African Technical Advisory Committee. In 2006, he was appointed a member of the Nigerian Presidential Task Force on the Restructuring of the Nigerian Information Technology and Telecommunications Sectors. He was appointed a member of the Presidential Committee on Roadmap for the Achievement of Accelerated Universal Broadband Infrastructure and Services Provision in August 2012.
He now joins other non-state stakeholders on the advisory network of FOC. According to its mission statement, the Freedom Online Coalition is a group of governments deeply committed to the human rights and fundamental freedoms proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
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“We believe that the human rights that people have offline must also be protected online. We commit to working together, and with all others who share these views, to support Internet freedom and protect human rights online worldwide,” the mission statement reads.
According to Sodiq Alabi, the Communications Officer of Paradigm Initiative, “the appointment of our Executive Director into the Advisory Network of the Coalition is a perfect fit as he has been working tirelessly at advancing internet freedom, something the Coalition is equally passionate about.”
