Mastercard Foundation Scholar Turns Passion into a Successful Eco-Advocacy NGO

By Bamidele Oni, a Mastercard Foundation Scholar, University of British Columbia 

The journey of a thousand miles — as people would usually say — starts with a single step. Having a dream, or rather a vision, is valiant in itself but taking the step of actualization is where the real challenges arise. 

I understand this journey — I am the founder of Green Impact, an organization committed to creating a global network of environmentally-minded young people. This year, Green Impact International registered as a Canadian non-profit. But it was a long journey — the surmounting pressure of the starting point, to me, is one big feat which inspires the next steps towards incredible achievements. 

I started off with the idea of Green Impact in 2011, after participating as a youth observer delegation to the United Nations Framework Convention of Climate Change held in Durban, South Africa. It was my first time stepping out of my home country, and the first international engagement I had the chance to attend. It was a learning and experience-gathering adventure for me, where I witnessed a great deal of global youth action through voluntary engagements. I met several young people, even from my home country, who were involved in climate action and whose work was truly inspirational.  

It was during this conference that I realized that the impact of climate change would worsen, especially with regards to Africa. Considering the prevailing situation of poverty in my own birth country of Nigeria and across the continent, I deemed it absolutely necessary to commit myself in every way I was capable. 

So, on my return, I began with the idea of a climate change sensitization program. I had nothing but my little savings and myself alone as the instructor. It was challenging to start from nothing, but I had to lead by example — to demonstrate the significance and to inspire fellow youth to join me. I began with simple outreach activities to secondary school students. This was with the motivation of facilitating a bigger movement of development and change in my community.  

I graduated from reaching out to younger students to organizing sensitization programs at the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, which was also where the growing volunteer base was located. A number of passionate individuals signed up as volunteer trainers which led to the formation of a work team. The passion I held for this initiative became ever clearer as the campaigns shifted to house-to-house outreach. Awareness pamphlets were distributed in indigenous languages and tree planting was introduced. One creative idea included in the tree planting program, aside from raising the trees ourselves, was ensuring that the adopted trees were beneficial species. These trees would not only protect the environment, but simultaneously provide necessary food security and medicinal-value supports to the community.   

With the initiative strengthened by the work of more dedicated volunteers, I started venturing out of the community to establish outreach in neighbouring towns. There were many challenges in terms of team commitment, and fund availability. But the motivation to incite and encourage a national eco-revival, where all persons would take on the responsibility of caring for the earth in their respective capacity, encouraged me greatly. What’s more, many volunteers who had participated in our programs extended the movement by replicating the idea of the initiative in their respective locality and municipals — some even took it beyond Nigeria! 

Another avenue that worked well for the initiative was the development of partnerships. Despite the fact that it took so long to properly register the organization in Nigeria, as it was very expensive, I was able to leverage certain information that led to registering the organization under a national coalition called Climate and Sustainable Development Network of Nigeria, an offshoot of the Pan-African Climate Justice Alliance located in Nairobi, Kenya. This body allowed us to join the national coalition as a result of our dedicated work and commitment. Through them, we secured small grants to support our projects. In addition to leveraging membership with this body, I was nominated as a state coordinator, a position which greatly empowered Green Impact through access to more resources and connections. 

In 2013, I had the opportunity to attend a government-sponsored green program, where I contributed as a young climate change advocate. It was at this conference that my contribution attracted the attention of the wife of the governor, who happened to be the conveyor of the program. This relationship acted as a catalyst for the organization. I was placed in charge of mobilizing youths from the 20 municipalities within the state for a tree planting and climate change awareness project. 

Throughout this time, I strengthened my relationships with some youth-led organizations, some of whom I had made acquaintances with at the climate conference. These relationships yielded many fruitful benefits and positioned Green Impact at a better vantage point for prominence amongst youth-led initiatives. Through the partnership, we were able to secure projects with the United States Consulate in Nigeria via the Walter Carrington Fellowship.  More recently, we have secured our biggest project to date — a collaboration with Access bank PLC — which has helped secure Green Impact’s momentum moving forward. 

This dream has become reality to me, as the simple initiative I pioneered is fast becoming grounded as a formidable and credible eco-advocacy NGO, providing enlightenment for grassroots movements and facilitating eco-innovation projects. I have learned many a lesson on perseverance and seizing what avails in the moment rather than procrastinate, even my faith in God has played a huge part in this dream.  

This journey of a thousand miles started with a single step — one which I encourage each and every Scholar to take.

About the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program

The Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program is developing Africa’s next generation of leaders. The program allows students whose talent and promise exceed their financial resources to complete their education. With a vision that education is a catalyst for social and economic change, the program focuses on developing leaders who are transformative, encouraging them to be active contributors in their communities.

Learn more about the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program >