Nigeria's APC Youth Vow to End 'Up NEPA,' Launch N17.5m Energy Fellowship

The Youth Wing of Nigeria's ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has declared an end to the era of "Up NEPA," the common Nigerian phrase signifying the sudden restoration of electricity after an outage. This commitment aligns with President Bola Tinubu's renewable energy agenda.

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There is going to be a lot of opportunities for the young people, in particular, for them to be able to meet with regulators and government agencies that they can partner with to achieve their energy enterprise ideas and goals. The focus is on renewable energy, biogas, and all of that. We want the issue of ‘Up NEPA’ to be a thing of the past. We want to support the president, his vision for power generation in Nigerian power distribution, and so we want to also bring in new players.

At the launch of the Dr. Mustapha Abdullahi Energy Leadership Fellowship (MAELF) in Abuja, APC National Youth Leader Dayo Israel announced a N17.5 million grant for participants. The seven-day fellowship focuses on developing young professionals in Nigeria's energy sector, with an emphasis on renewable energy, energy transition policies, climate action, leadership, and governance. Israel stated that the program will offer opportunities for young people to connect with regulators and government agencies to advance their energy enterprise ideas.

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We know that energy has been a major challenge in Nigeria, and as a party, we feel that we must support the president in achieving his energy vision. He has invested a lot in renewable energy in Nigeria, in transforming the energy ecosystem, and all of that.

Israel acknowledged that poor energy generation and distribution remain significant challenges for Nigeria's economy. He affirmed the party's commitment to supporting the president's vision for transforming the energy ecosystem through renewable energy investments. The fellowship aims to foster partnerships between young Nigerians in the energy sector and policymakers to address the country's energy challenges. The initiative also seeks to make Nigeria a more attractive country for its diaspora, highlighting infrastructure projects like the Lagos Coastal Road as essential for industrial growth, which in turn requires reliable power.

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When you build roads, you build industries. You need power at the heart of all of these things. We want to contribute our own little quota to what the President is doing to make Nigeria a better place.