Sustainable Energy for Ijaye Community

Olumide is an energetic, and strategic leader who balances a practical view of competing for development interests with a passion for environmental protection and conservation. A resolute self-driven professional with 10 years’ progressive experience in project management, business development, sales & marketing, campaign specialist, social media strategy, environmental sustainability, climate change, digital marketing & facilitation. Given his dedication to development, he has been instrumental in the development of other businesses, sectors, companies, social change initiatives, serving as a volunteer, mentor, and strategist. He is the co-founder of the International Climate Change Development Initiative, Youth Focal Point Nigeria UNDP Small Grant Program, Youth Lead Author Global Environmental Outlook (GEO6) & Communication Director for African Youth Initiative on Climate Change.

The overall objective of the project is to reduce emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere from energy generation and at the same time improve the socio-economic status of the people of Ijaye Community.

The Project involves the installation of a 20 kW Solar Mini grid facility to supply constant electricity to Ijaye Community and will also enhance the capacity of public institutions in Oyo State.

Efforts will be made to ensure the equal participation of women in the project activities; starting from the Inception Workshop to the Appraisal meeting. Moreover, at the level of the Village Power Committee, the principle of gender mainstreaming will be taken into cognisance; the VPC will comprise of 3 men & 3 women. This project aligns with the current policy of the federal and state government to boost local production of goods and services and to increase the access of Nigerians to electricity.

Ijaye Community located in Akinyele Local Government Area of Oyo State is among the communities in Nigeria underserved by the national electricity grid. The Community once enjoyed electricity from the national grid. However, electricity supply to the Community was cut off about 5 years ago and the Community has remained in darkness since then. As a result, the inhabitants now rely on unsustainable sources of energy to run their businesses and meet their domestic needs. These include the use of petrol/diesel-powered generator sets; there are about 100 pieces of privately-own generating sets operated by members of the Community. The Community members use the electricity from their self-owned generators to power their light bulbs, televisions, fans, fridges and charging of cell phones. Other energy sources include the use of kerosene for both cooking and lighting, batteries for lighting, firewood and charcoal for cooking. There are a total of 250 houses in the Community with a population estimated to be about 2500 people. There are more women in the Community compared with men and the main economic activity is farming. They cultivate crops such as cocoa, cassava, yam, maize, plantain, palm oil etc. Households income varies and ranges from N5000 - N20,000/week.

Transiting to the use of renewable energy sources will guarantee constant electricity supply to the people of Ijaye Community. The project will utilize the photovoltaic technology to generate electricity within the Community and this will be fed into the local grid. This is expected to eliminate the use of private generators for electricity generation.

Similarly, it is expected to reduce to a large extent if not a total elimination of the use of kerosene lanterns and batteries to produce light energy. This will greatly reduce the emission of GHG into the atmosphere and the pollution of the environment with toxic substances contained in used batteries. The Project will also help to boost economic activities within the community and its neighbouring villages. It will reduce households’ expenditure on energy sources and the money saved can be channeled to other activities. 

In addition, the Project will boost access to information, facilitate learning in the existing schools and boost health care delivery within the Community and environs.

Ijaye Community (7º37'51.8"N 3º50'47.5"E) located in Akinyele Local Government Area of Oyo State is among the communities in Nigeria underserved by the national electricity grid. The Community once enjoyed electricity from the national grid. However, electricity supply to the Community was cut off about 7 years ago and the Community has remained in darkness since then. 

The Community members use the electricity from their self-owned generators to power their light bulbs, televisions, fans, fridges and charging of cell phones. Other energy sources include the use of kerosene for both cooking and lighting, batteries for lighting, firewood and charcoal for cooking. The Project will also help to boost economic activities within the community and its neighbouring villages. It will reduce households’ expenditure on energy sources and the money saved can be channeled to other activities. In addition, the Project will boost access to information, facilitate learning in the existing schools and boost health care delivery within the Community and environs.

This project is 100 percent going to be "Elevating issues and their projects by building awareness and driving action to solve the most difficult problems of our world" the reason why we are doing this is to change the mindset of community dwellers and to also make the government be more accountable and transparent to the promises they give to the community during their election mandates. Community mobilisation and tracking will help us drive more change and awareness to the people that need support and change. 

From the lessons learnt from previous similar projects embarked upon by ICCDI in the past on community action cycle, it has been observed that in many communities where PV mini grid systems are installed and handed down to the communities, they are unable to maintain the facilities. In many cases, when one or more components of the facility becomes faulty, the entire system is abandoned by the community. ICCDI will in this case adopt a social enterprise model to sustain the facility. By this model, ICCDI will serve as the Operator of the mini grid with the partnership with community leaders.  The end-users will be given prepaid meters and they will pay for the services.  The Community will sign an MOU with ICCDI who will oversee the day-to-day management of the facility. ICCDI will manage the facilities for the Community. The MOU will properly define the roles and responsibilities of each party (ICCDI and the Community) including how the resources from the facility will be managed to maintain the facility and where necessary upscale it. 

The objectives of this project align with several global initiatives, notably the Sustainable Energy for All initiative (SE4ALL) which was launched by the UN Secretary General in 2010. The SE4ALL initiative was formally launched in Nigeria in August 2014 by the Nigerian President. The key pillars of the SE4ALL are to ensure universal access to modern energy services; doubling the rate of improvement in energy efficiency; and doubling the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix.

The goals of this initiative will be achieved in partnership with governments, the private sector and civil society organizations by 2030. Similarly, the Project objective conforms with the priority area on climate change mitigation to promote investment in renewable energy technology and to support transformational shifts towards a low-emission and resilient development path.

Been in the space of community development and demanding for sustainable cities and change gives me the zeal and the mind to want to build a change in this community and see that every human see the need to take ownership of what is right for them from the government. This project will work out because our collaboration with different stakeholders will build a sustainable change for people and planet. 

Handling Youth Climate Innovation Hub for the government of Nigeria through the Department of Climate Change and and with the support of United Nations Development Programme in Nigeria this gives me the ability to share and bring my expertises to change the narrative of this new project and to also involved all stakeholders that will help build a culture of humanity within the people to see that change can happen to the community. 

A resolute self-driven professional with 10 years’ progressive experience in project management, business development, sales & marketing, campaign specialist, social media strategy, environmental sustainability, climate change, digital marketing & facilitation. Given his dedication to development, he has been instrumental in the development of other businesses, sectors, companies, social change initiatives, serving as a volunteer, mentor, and strategist. He is the co-founder of the International Climate Change Development Initiative, Youth Focal Point Nigeria UNDP Small Grant Program, Youth Lead Author Global Environmental Outlook (GEO6) & Communication Director for African Youth Initiative on Climate Change.

Below are numbers of items that we already get in kind is up to USD 23,228.20

• Land for the construction of Solar PV mini grid system
• Consultancy services to develop the operational modalities of the mini grid
• Fee for two consultants to conduct training for state, local government officials and other stakeholders on the new Mini Grid Policy
• Fee for two consultants to conduct training on EE best practices and productive use of electricity for end users in Ijaye Community
• Legal Fees to draft the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the community and ICCDI
• Legal Fees for draft of End-user Agreement
• Fee for consultants that will supervise the building of the Solar PV mini grid system
• Project Management

USD 48,479

Been in the space of community development and demanding for sustainable cities and change gives me the zeal and the mind to want to build a change in this community and see that every human see the need to take ownership of what is right for them from the government. This project will work out because our collaboration with different stakeholders will build a sustainable change for people and planet. 

• Community Stakeholders - Manage some of our community driven activities 
• Susty Vibes - Helping in getting volunteers and promotion of our activities as well.
• REES Africa Helping consultancy and training