A group of civil society and youth-driven organisations led by Policy Alert have launched a national campaign tagged #Youth Voices2060 to mainstream young people and their priorities in Nigeria’s energy transition.
The programme, which was launched virtually, was organised in partnership with the Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI) and BudgIT Foundation and sought the Federal Government’s review of its Energy Transition Plan to mainstream youth perspectives in the implementation.
A statement by the Media Officer of Policy Alert, Nneka Luke-Ikenna, made available to our correspondent in Uyo on Saturday said Policy Alert’s Programme Officer for Energy, Extractives, and Climate Justice Edidiong Dickson, said it is “a loose network of young people and youth-focused organisations contributing skills, energy, and innovations towards Nigeria’s fossil fuel phaseout and the transition to a clean energy future.”
The statement noted that some domestic policy frameworks on de-carbonisation, including the Energy Transition Plan launched in August 24, 2022, neither involved youths in their formulation nor did they contain any explicit references to youth priorities.
The statement also urged the Nigerian government to review the Energy Transition Plan and mainstream youth perspectives in its implementation as the country approaches 2060, its target year to attain carbon neutrality.
“Youth Voices 2060 is launched as an organic market place of ideas for and by young people.With over 70 percent of its population below the age of 30. Nigeria, which has the world’s biggest youth cohort relative to its population size, also has one of the largest energy deficits globally.
“In the context of the global energy transition, this contradiction offers a demographic opportunity to transform the country’s energy system in clean and sustainable ways that can benefit both young people and society in general,” The statement added
Speakers at the launch event included Olumide Olaniyan, Executive Director of International Climate Change Development Initiative (ICCDI), Chizoba Nzeakor, a climate and clean energy professional with Zoba Advisory, and Emmanuel Anene, a doctoral researcher in clean energy. Others included David Arinze, Programme Officer at Diamond Development Initiatives, Lauritta Boniface, Co-founder of Ecocykle, and Richard Umar, Founder of Youth Voyage of Nigeria.
