Winners emerge in 2024 Greening Lagos competition

The Lagos Urban Development Initiative announces the winners of the Greening Lagos Competition, an innovative competition aimed at addressing the shortage of green spaces and promoting sustainable greening solutions in Lagos.

This initiative is driven by the need to tap into the potential of youth to create practical and impactful solutions that benefit both the environment and the community.

It is no news that the city of Lagos lacks sufficient green spaces mainly due to the rapid rate of urbanization which has negative environmental impacts such as pollution and increased temperatures which eventually affect the health and safety of residents.

The winners were presented on Thursday by Miriam Adenuga, the Project Coordinator, Lagos Urban Development Initiative (LUDI) at the presentation of cash rewards to them.

Adenuga described the winners as ‘worthy winners ‘ and noted that the competition perfectly fits into Lagos State THEMES + Agenda of Lagos State of a clean and green environment.

According to her, the Greening Lagos competition encourages young ones to use their creativity and problem-solving skills to suggest ideas that can help their communities.

“We are quite quite aware of the fact that the THEMES + Agenda really focused on sustainability and inclusivity by trying to push for community initiative and the idea is for communities to own the project by bringing communities together to solve problems like climate change and make the environment much better that will guarantee community dwellers live a more healthier life,” Mariam said.

She noted that children were involved in the initiative to make them understand the importance of a greener environment at a young age which will prepare them for leadership tomorrow.

“They say children are the leaders of tomorrow, but we feel, why don’t they start leading now? Why do we have to wait till tomorrow? We are talking about sustainability, the idea is for things to live beyond our generation to the next generation, so it’s very important for us to involve them now, if not they are going to be confused about whatever we are leaving for them, so it’s important for them to be part of what is happening now especially towards initiatives like this.”

Mariam further said that LUDI decided to partner with other stakeholders such as Lagos State government through Lagos State Parks and Gardens, IITA, and FCMB so they could achieve much better results.

The Greening Lagos Initiative, a project carried out in partnership with International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), First City Monument Bank (FCMB), Amayi Foods, MOE+ Art Architecture, and The Lekki Bird Club aims to address the shortage of green spaces, slow down the detrimental effects of climate change, promote sustainable greening solutions in Lagos, and seeks to encourage young people to devise innovative and cost-effective solutions for greening the city.

This was carried out through the Greening Lagos Competition 2024 which lasted from the 20th August – 30th September 2024 and was open to ages 10-12, 13-15, and 16-18. The competition entrants were asked to submit designs to show how their immediate neighborhood and environment can be transformed by introducing green initiatives.
All entries received were reviewed by judges from academia, cultural institutions, architecture, and government, after which the best designs were selected according to their degree of innovation, aesthetic qualities, functionality, use of local materials and usefulness. In order to build on the designs submitted and with the ultimate aim of implementing these projects, winners in the categories 13-15 and 16-18 were invited to be part of a workshop where they were paired with young designers.

At the workshop they learnt how design can be used as an advocacy tool and how community collaboration can help drive inclusion. They were taught to consider age, gender, people with disabilities, and environmental sustainability. The workshop brought a variety of experts together to share their knowledge and experience, this included the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) who explained the need to consider certain crops and plants and various methods of farming to support the local economy.

The winners; Daniel Anyanonu, Oluwaseun Oluwabunmi Temitope, and Tariq Lawal (16-18); Nicole Rapu, Benita Besil, and Samuel Anyanonu (13-15); Emmanuel Chiemeka, Tijani Feyisara, and Moses Adediran (10-12), were announced on the 21st of November 2024 and awarded cash prizes between 50,000 – 200,000 Naira.
From here the partners aim to come together again to implement the winning designs within the various winning communities in 2025, as phase 2 of the project.

The Greening Lagos Initiative is a great way to encourage young people to be part of the growth and development of their communities and ultimately, the growth of Lagos.