APC Young Members Call for 'Up NEPA' Protest to Stop, Launch N17.5m Energy Empowerment Program

The Youth Wing of the All Progressives Congress has vowed to make the era of unpredictable electricity returns, known as "Up NEPA", a relic of the past, as it pledged to support President Bola Tinubu's renewable energy agenda with a N17.5 million grant for participants of the Dr Mustapha Abdullahi Energy Leadership Fellowship.

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National Youth Leader of the APC, Dayo Israel, made this pledge on Monday in Abuja at the opening ceremony of the fellowship, emphasizing the need for reliable energy to drive economic growth.

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Israel outlined the benefits of the fellowship, stating that it would provide opportunities for young people to engage with regulators and government agencies to achieve their energy enterprise ideas and goals, with a focus on renewable energy and biogas.

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The fellowship, a seven-day residential program, aims to develop young professionals in Nigeria's energy sector, with a focus on renewable energy, energy transition policies, climate action, leadership, and governance.

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Israel acknowledged that poor energy generation and distribution remain a major challenge affecting the economy, and expressed the youth wing's commitment to collaborating with the government to address this issue.

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He emphasized the party's support for President Tinubu's energy vision, which includes investing in renewable energy and transforming the energy ecosystem, and noted that the fellowship was created to support this agenda.

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The fellowship will provide participants with the opportunity to interact with government energy agencies, such as the Energy Commission of Nigeria and the Renewable Energy Agency, to build partnerships and solve the country's energy challenges.

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A N17.5 million grant, supported by Dr Mustapha Abdullahi and Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State, has been announced for the fellows, along with other opportunities to drive growth in the energy sector.

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According to Israel, the goal of the fellowship is to contribute to making Nigeria a better place, with improved infrastructure, such as the Lagos Coastal Road and the Badagry Expressway, which require reliable energy to function effectively.

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He noted that building roads and industries requires power, and that the youth wing wants to contribute to President Tinubu's efforts to make Nigeria a country that Nigerians in the diaspora can be proud of and want to return to.

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Nafisat Ovurevu, one of the fellows and co-founder of Fosun Solar Energy Nigeria Limited, emphasized that energy remains the nation's biggest challenge, particularly in food production, and that programs like the fellowship can provide lasting solutions to the crisis.

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Ovurevu stated that Nigeria has abundant energy resources, but these resources do not automatically translate to reliability, and that the real problem lies in how the country's energy is generated, distributed, transmitted, and financed.