A non-governmental organisation (NGO), Our Tomorrow Foundation, has urged African youths to salvage the continent from environment degradation and improve livability.
It also advised them to wake up to the reality of the existential threat that climate change poses to the continent’s future.
At the launch of the NGO yesterday in Lagos, its Founder, Prince EmekaObasi, bemoaned the low awareness and failure of policy makers and youths to take necessary action against the environmental menace.
The huge gap, he said, made him to float the NGO, which focuses on tackling pollution and challenges arising from climate change issues.
Obasi stressed that his field experience showed that there is a lack of commitment by government in Africa to tackle climate change, warning that failure to take necessary steps may result in human and material losses.
He said: “Africa stands out disproportionately as the most vulnerable region in the world and this vulnerability is driven by the low levels of socioeconomic growth in Africa.”
Obasi explained that from his findings, African youths were not involved in the battle against environmental threats.
But to achieve a critical mass of climate change, he said, his organisation would mobilise the youth across the continent to be enrolled as advocates whose voices would resonate loudly and clearly to bring the needed change.
He said: “Our continent is being ravaged by multinational corporations, which are extracting resources without adequate consideration for the environment. Therefore, the effort to improve the environment should be championed by the youth because the world of tomorrow belongs to us.”