Climate Change: Winners emerge in 2024 Greening Lagos competition

Daniel Anyanonu, Nicole Rapu and Emmanuel Chiemeka and others have been announced as winners of the 2024 Greening Lagos Project.
 
Daniel won in the 16-18 years category while Nicole and Emmanuel won in the 13-15 years and 10-12 years categories respectively.

The winners were unveiled recently by Project Owner, Green Lagos Initiative, Kudzayi Hove and the Project Coordinator, LUDI, Miriam Adenuga, where cash rewards were presented to them.
 
Adenuga, who doubles as the Project Manager of Greening Lagos Initiative 2024, described the winners as “worthy winners”, noting that the competition perfectly fits into the THEMES + Agenda of the Lagos State government.
 
According to her, the Greening Lagos competition encourages young ones to use their creativity and problem-solving skills to suggest ideas that can help their communities to maintain a clean and green environment.

“We are quite aware that the THEMES + Agenda really focuses on sustainability and inclusivity by trying to push for community initiative and the idea is for communities to own the project by bringing communities together to solve problems like climate change and make the environment much better that will guarantee community dwellers live a more healthier life,” Mariam said.
 
Also speaking, Hove noted that children were involved in the initiative to help them understand the importance of a greener environment at a young age, which will prepare them for leadership tomorrow.
 
“They say children are the leaders of tomorrow, but we feel, why don’t they start leading now? Why do we have to wait till tomorrow? We are talking about sustainability; the idea is for things to live beyond our generation to the next generation. So, it’s very important for us to involve them now, if not they are going to be confused about whatever we are leaving for them. So, it’s important for them to be part of what is happening now, especially towards initiatives like this,” Hove said.
 
The Greening Lagos Initiative, a project carried out in partnership with International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), First City Monument Bank (FCMB), Amayi Foods, MOE+ Art Architecture, The Lekki Bird Club and Lagos Urban Development Initiative aims to address the shortage of green spaces, slow down the detrimental effects of climate change, promote sustainable greening solutions in Lagos, and encourage young people to devise innovative and cost-effective solutions for greening the city.