Osinbajo: Youths duty-bound to confront climate change, usher in renewable energy

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo says the onus is on young Nigerians to confront climate change and usher in the age of renewable energy and green solutions.

Osinbajo spoke on Saturday at the 60th anniversary of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Osun state.

According to a statement signed by Laolu Akande, his senior special assistant on media & publicity, the vice-president said Nigeria’s young generation will need to find solutions to present and future local and global challenges.

“And it is big and innovative ideas that will solve those problems. You will have to confront the problems of climate change and a world moving away from fossil fuels, and you will usher in the age of renewable energy and green solutions,” he said. 

“Yes, the challenges are huge, but you are well equipped to resolve them; and the evidence is there… Since 2016, despite two recessions, young Nigerians have built 6 unicorns; a unicorn is a company that is valued at over a billion dollars,

“You will deal with the issues of feeding, educating, providing healthcare and jobs for the fourth largest population in the world in a few decades. We will need smarter agric solutions to feed the huge numbers, technology is already helping to crowd-fund agriculture and develop more prolific seedlings. 

“You will confront the need to vastly improve our public and clinical healthcare. We must build on the work of the Genomic Centre at Ede, and the local vaccine production efforts going on already and make local drugs for hundreds of millions of Nigerians.” 

He added that the use of smart weapons from artificial intelligence and technology can improve policing and help the country address its security challenges. 

“The insecurity problems we are experiencing, the rise of terrorism in several parts of this large country and access to modern weaponry by non-state actors tell us that we must be smarter in policing the country, using smart drones and surveillance equipment. The politicisation of importation of arms tells us that we must manufacture our own arms,” he said.