…….Call for youth and women inclusion in Nigeria’s energy future
Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Renewable Energy, Afam Victor Ogene, has said that Nigeria’s transition to a low-carbon economy must be anchored on inclusive job creation for young people and women if it is to succeed and deliver long-term national prosperity.
Speaking at the opening of the Africa Policy Dialogue Kick-off Workshop in Abuja on Thursday, July 24, 2025, Ogene said the National Assembly is on course to introduce a landmark law – the National Inclusive Green Jobs Act (NIGJA) – that will embed green job quotas for youth and women in renewable energy programmes and require government agencies to transition to sustainable power sources.
This workshop is not just another policy dialogue; it is the beginning of a legislative and national framework that will shape our economic transformation,” Ogene declared before a packed audience at the National Assembly Complex in Abuja.
The audience included representatives from the United Nations Development Programme, renewable energy firms, Women in Renewable Energy, civil society organisations and members of the diplomatic community.
According to him, the proposed law will create pathways for skills development, incentivise local manufacturing, and strengthen Nigeria’s positioning under the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) by linking renewable energy investments to job creation.
The workshop was a continuation of the outcomes from the first annual Legislative Conference on Renewable Energy held in Lagos earlier in the year, where the NIGJA bill was first announced.
At the heart of Ogene’s address was a call for social justice and economic inclusion. He noted that Nigeria’s transition to a greener economy cannot be achieved if the country fails to prioritise youth and women. “We must understand that climate action goes beyond environmental concerns. It is a social justice imperative and an opportunity to transform lives, even in the most remote parts of Nigeria,” he said.
He lauded the 10th House of Representatives, led by Speaker Tajudeen Abbas, for prioritising renewable energy. “In a historic first, the Speaker established the Committee on Renewable Energy to drive policy, promote development and attract investment in the sector,” Ogene said. The Speaker was represented at the event by the Deputy Minority Whip, Rt. Hon. George Ozodinobi.
To deepen the commitment, the House has adopted a resolution mandating all Ministries, Departments, and Agencies to transition to renewable energy for their power needs. Ogene revealed that work is already underway to transform that resolution into a binding legislation.
The lawmaker was clear about the job potential of the green economy. “Let us be clear: green jobs are not abstract concepts. Every solar panel installed, every mini-grid deployed, every electric vehicle charged means jobs created, livelihoods sustained, and futures secured,” he said.
Citing data, he stated that Nigeria’s renewable energy sector currently supports about 70,000 jobs. He pointed to projects like the Solar Power Naija initiative and the Nigeria Distributed Access through Renewable Energy Scale-up (DARES) project, which is expected to provide access to electricity for 17.5 million Nigerians and create thousands of new jobs. The Next-Gen RESCO programme alone, he said, is projected to generate 10,000 green jobs.
Pan-African estimates, Ogene added, suggest that the green economy could produce up to 3.3 million jobs by 2030, with over 70 percent in renewable energy. Nigeria’s own Energy Transition Plan, which targets 30 percent renewable energy by 2030, could yield 340,000 direct jobs by the end of the decade and 840,000 by 2060.
However, Ogene cautioned that despite the numbers, there remains a glaring gender and youth gap. “Youth currently represent around 28% of formal jobs in Nigeria’s distributed renewable energy sector, while women account for between 27 and 37%. But worryingly, only 8% of women are in STEM-based technical roles. This must change,” he said.
He noted that Africa’s rapidly growing population — more than 60% of whom are under 25 — makes the inclusion of young people in green jobs not just a necessity but an opportunity for explosive economic development.
To address the imbalance, Ogene called for gender-responsive policies, job guarantees in funded programmes, and targeted skills training as core components of any green economy plan. “If we are serious about a just energy transition, we must place youth and women at the centre of our strategy,” he said.
The green skills gap, Ogene warned, also poses a major threat to achieving national energy targets. Nearly 50% of skilled labour needs in the renewable sector remain unmet, with most equipment used in power generation still being imported. “This is not because we lack raw materials, but because of inadequate skills and weak policies to support knowledge transfer,” he explained.
He drew a comparison to China, which through a government-backed green jobs programme has created more than 7 million jobs in the sector. Nigeria, he said, must now adopt a similar coordinated approach involving government, academia and the private sector.
“Institutions like the National Power Training Institute of Nigeria (NAPTIN), the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN), and our Next-Gen RESCO programme are showing what is possible. But they cannot succeed without broader support,” he stated.
In outlining legislative priorities, Ogene listed the key areas that the National Inclusive Green Jobs Act would cover. These include mandating job creation targets in national renewable energy programmes, establishing oversight mechanisms for job impact assessments, creating public-private training pipelines, and mainstreaming youth and gender inclusion into national energy policy.
He also hinted at legislative tools to support local content in equipment manufacturing and incentives for private sector compliance with inclusive hiring practices. “We must not only create green jobs; we must ensure that they go to those who need them most — our youth and our women,” he stressed.
Hon. Ogene called on development partners, civil society, private investors and academia to join the National Assembly in drafting policy frameworks that will institutionalise inclusive employment and measure progress in real terms. “Let us co-create a future where the young woman in Adamawa who installs solar home systems and the youth in Bayelsa who operates a mini-grid are not exceptions, but the new face of Nigeria’s energy revolution,” he said.
In his closing remarks, Ogene reminded participants that the workshop was more than a policy gathering. “It is a turning point. A moment where ideas begin their journey toward law, and where our collective action shapes a sustainable, inclusive and prosperous energy future,” he said.
“When our youth and women help build Nigeria’s energy future, they power not just the grid, but our economy, our communities, and our aspirations,” he concluded.
Victoria Manya of INCLUDE Knowledge Platform called on Nigeria to anchor climate action in social justice and labour equity. Speaking on behalf of international partners, she warned that the low-carbon transition risked becoming the “handmaiden of fossil fuel interests,” achieving decarbonisation targets on paper while reproducing inequality in practice.
According to Manya, Nigeria’s transition must be more than a climate obligation, it must be a generational opportunity to rewrite the nation’s social contract and empower those historically left behind.
Manya emphasised the urgency of confronting Nigeria’s staggering youth unemployment rate—over 42% among those aged 15 to 34—as well as the structural exclusion of women from emerging green sectors. Citing IRENA projections, she noted that the renewable energy sector could create over 340,000 direct jobs by 2030, yet fewer than 5% of Nigeria’s vocational training programmes are aligned with those needs.
“We cannot scale green jobs,” she said, “without first scaling the infrastructure of inclusion, skills, and policy alignment.” She underscored that frameworks like the National Inclusive Green Jobs Act (NIGJA) and platforms like the National Green Skills and Employment Alliance (NGSEA) were not optional but “mission-critical.”
Drawing lessons from Germany, South Africa, and Morocco, Manya illustrated how other nations had embedded labour justice into energy reforms through incentives, retraining programmes, and community employment mandates. She warned that without deliberate action, transitions can deepen the inequality they are meant to solve.
“No be who dey shout ‘transition’ go chop the green jobs—na who prepare ground well,” she concluded, calling for a coordinated and inclusive approach that moves from consultation to co-implementation, and ensures climate policies translate to jobs that truly “put food on the table for real people.”
