A Green Non-Governmental Organisation, Eco-Citizen Ogoni Initiative (ECOI), has launched an Eco Volunteer Portal to register 560,000 youth volunteers for its ambitious project of planting 560 million Mangrove trees in the deforested Ogoniland, Rivers State.
The portal, https://www.ecocitizenogoni.org, was launched in Port Harcourt on Tuesday, coinciding with International Youth Day 2025.
The Coordinator of ECOI in Ogoni, Pastor Nature Dumale, stated that the youths would be recruited as part of the Global Green Marshalls and would be expected to complete the project by 2035.
Dumale explained that the portal serves as a hub for green innovation, civic engagement, and youth-led systems transformation in Ogoniland and beyond. He added that it will activate a bold new framework for SDG localisation, transforming ecological restoration into genuine economic opportunity.
According to Dumale, the 560,000 trained Eco-Volunteers will be deployed across 56 wards in four local government areas of Ogoni, and the initiative aims to generate over 500,000 green-blue economy jobs in sectors such as clean energy, regenerative agriculture, aquaculture, sustainable transport, eco-enterprise, and circular economy innovation.
He noted that the portal would provide climate-smart, community-led development in line with SDGs 6, 7, 8, 13, 14, and 15. Using real-time dashboards, peer-led learning labs, fellowship placements, mission tracking, and a youth-focused opportunity marketplace, the platform positions Ogoni’s young people as creators and advocates of a fair, regenerative future.
Dumale added that the portal signalled a new model for planetary cooperation, rooted in the Global South, and would create a digital commons where local stories could scale global impact.
Senator Ireti Heebah Kingibe, Deputy Chairperson of the Senate Committee on Ecology and Climate Change, commended the initiative, saying, “We must move from remediation to regeneration — and that starts with empowering young people at the frontline.” She noted that the initiative represented a critical shift from extractive development to ecological stewardship.
Mr. Victor Wilkinson Agih, Global Director of the ECO2RUPPERS Africa Initiative, also praised the initiative, saying, “This is more than a portal. It is a platform for intergenerational equity and distributed leadership.” He added that the model showed what is possible when youth are not just included, but trusted, trained, and resourced to lead.
The key features of the platform include digital onboarding of 560,000 Eco-Volunteers, green-blue skills training and micro-credentialing, a project mission dashboard to coordinate SDG action in real time, youth-led enterprise support via funding links and circular marketplaces, and inter-ward and diaspora collaboration tools.
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