A Nigerian youth climate advocate, Olumide Idowu, has called on the Federal Government to move beyond speeches and back its climate commitments with concrete financing that directly impacts vulnerable communities.
Idowu, the founder of the International Climate Change Development Initiative Africa (ICCDI-Africa), made the call at the end of the African Youth Climate Assembly (AYCA) 2025 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, ahead of the Second Africa Climate Summit.
“We can’t keep showing up at international conferences with fine speeches while rural communities in Bayelsa, Jigawa, and Borno are drowning or drying up. Financing must go beyond big pledges to actual projects that young Nigerians and grassroots communities can feel,” he said.
He stressed that Nigerian youths, often sidelined in policy discussions, possess the innovation and energy needed to drive climate resilience if given the space.
“Until government officials see youth not as afterthoughts but as co-drivers of climate policy, the solutions will remain half-baked,” he argued.
Referencing Ethiopia’s Minister of Women and Social Affairs, Ergogie Tesfaye, who said, “the young can run fast, but the elders know the road,” Idowu remarked:
“In Nigeria, the problem is that the elders often block the road. What we need is not competition but collaboration. If wisdom and youth energy run together, Nigeria can lead Africa in climate resilience.”
From Policy Talk to Tangible Action
While acknowledging the value of continental dialogues in Addis Ababa, Idowu stressed the need for outcomes that translate into tangible projects back home.
“Unless these assemblies move beyond policy talk to deliver resources and accountability, the gap between dialogue and lived reality will only widen,” he warned.
He also proposed stronger accountability systems to track Nigeria’s commitments, insisting that “every promise Nigeria makes must have a tracker back home.”
Pathway Forward
Idowu urged Nigeria to seize the moment by investing in renewable energy, inclusive climate finance, and youth-led innovation.
“Silence is not an option. If we don’t raise our voices, we risk losing our land, our livelihoods, and our future. That’s why we’re here in Addis to remind leaders that climate justice is not charity, it’s survival,” he said.
The African Youth Climate Assembly (AYCA) 2025, hosted at the Adwa Memorial Museum, ran under the theme: “Accelerating Global Climate Solutions: Financing for Africa’s Resilient and Green Development.”
It is one of the major pre-events feeding into the Africa Climate Summit 2025 (ACS2), which opens on Monday, September 8, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
By Dare Akogun, Addis Ababa
