350 Global Power Shift Nigeria Launches #WeLeadYou campaign

A campaign calling on Nigerian leaders to step up the fight against climate change has been launched. The #WeLeadYou campaign, which is an initiative of 350 Global Power Shift was launched in Nigeria today by Global Power Shift Nigeria as part of the massive global mobilization to demand that global leaders fight for climate justice at the forthcoming United Nations (UN) Climate Summit in New York on 23^rd September, which president Goodluck Jonathan is expected to attend.

#WeLeadYou comes as global leaders have continually failed to deliver a binding agreement to cut CO₂ and tackle global warming. The campaign aspires to show leaders the way to fight climate change by calling on them to hold rich Global North countries accountable for climate change and to show climate leadership by investing in clean solar energy versus dirty fossil fuels.

According to Usman Inuwa, 350 Nigeria team lead, a key part of the #WeLeadYou campaign is to help raise the voices of those Nigerians battling (drought/flooding/desertification, Gas flaring, oil spillage) and other impacts of global warming right now. 

“we are saying to our leaders #WeLeadYou, now fight for climate justice at the New York climate summit. In Nigeria fertile lands are turning to deserts, and weather patterns are becoming even more unpredictable as the result of climate change. We are saying to our leaders it is time for Nigeria to invest in clean alternative energy solutions that will also bring opportunities of job creation for young Nigerians.” 

In fulfillment of the campaign objectives, the group revealed that it will be visiting Ogori-Magongo, North-Central Nigeria from the 20th-21st of September 2014 to kick-off the Climate Change-In-The-Village Campaign which seeks to mainstream into global discourse, the views of different classes of people in the community ranging from farmers, fishermen, traders, hunters, forest guards, women and youth groups to cooperatives, with respect to rain fall, flooding, planting seasons, fishing, weather and forestry. The programme also seeks to extrapolate what climatic changes the villagers have noticed and how the changes have affected their lives, family and businesses as well as what they think can be done to preserve their community for the next generation.