Civic leader bags global foresight fellowship

19th November 2025 

Founder of Policy Shapers, Ebenezar Wikina, has been named a 2026 Next Generation Foresight Practitioners Fellow, earning global recognition for his citizen-driven development project in Rivers State.

According to a statement, the fellowship, organised by the United Kingdom-based School of International Futures, selected 25 fellows from 24 countries out of more than 700 applicants. It named Wikina, a Rivers indigene, as one of only two global fellows chosen under its Democracy & Sustainable Development Foresight Transformation Mission.

The organisation said the programme “recognises emerging foresight leaders who are using futures thinking to drive positive change in their communities,” noting that Wikina’s work spans civic technology, youth development, public policy, journalism, biomimicry, and futures thinking.

Wikina is a policy analyst. He founded Policy Shapers, a civic-tech organisation that empowers young people with the knowledge, skills, and tools to engage in public policy.

His fellowship project, Rivers 2050 Vision, seeks to co-create a 25-year development blueprint for the state. He described it as “a citizen-led foresight initiative seeking to co-create a development blueprint for Rivers State over the next 25 years.”

Speaking on his selection, the civic-tech leader said, “The last time Rivers State had a development plan was 50 years ago, in 1975. Given our recent political and public leadership challenges, this project puts power back in the hands of citizens to fight for the state they believe they deserve.”

He added that the recognition offers him “an opportunity to bring more African perspectives into the future conversation and collaborate with others shaping long-term development.”

Wikina’s latest achievement adds to a decade-long list of honours, including the 2015 Rivers Business and People Award, the 2017 Global Investigative Journalism Conference Fellowship, the 2020 Mandela Washington Fellowship, the 2022 Royal African Youth Leadership Award, and the 2024 Skoll Fellowship, among others.