NAWOJ National Chairperson joins Women LPG Empowerment Committee to drive clean energy for Nigerian Women

Aisha Ibrahim, the National President of the Nigeria Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ), has been officially inaugurated as a member of the Women LPG Scale-Up and Empowerment Initiative steering committee.

The inauguration was conducted by the Minister of Women Affairs, Hajia Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, in a move aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG7), which advocates for access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all.

The newly constituted committee includes Professor Mohammed M. Ibrahim mni, Chairman of the National Gas Expansion Programme (NGEP); Dr. Maryam Keshinro, Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Women Affairs; and Princess Edna Azura, President of the National Council for Women Societies (NCWS), among other members.

The committee has been charged with providing strategic oversight, coordination, and facilitation of the Clean Cooking initiative, which promotes the use of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), abundantly available in Nigeria, for household use at both national and sub-national levels.

Their responsibilities include strategic planning and policy development, stakeholder engagement, resource mobilization, technology distribution, capacity building, as well as monitoring, evaluation, risk management, and ensuring the initiative’s sustainability and growth.

The expected outcomes focus on the wide adoption of LPG technologies by Nigerian women, improved health through reduced indoor air pollution, environmental protection through decreased use of traditional fuels, and economic empowerment of women participating in the clean cooking value chain.

The initiative also aims to strengthen government capacity in promoting and maintaining clean energy projects.

During the inauguration, Minister Hajia Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, who also chairs the committee, expressed her optimism for meaningful progress towards eliminating energy poverty in Nigeria.

She emphasized the importance of ensuring women, particularly at the grassroots level, are not only beneficiaries but also active participants, entrepreneurs, and leaders in the clean energy sector.

She pointed out that strategic plans already exist under frameworks like SDG7, Nigeria’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), and the Beijing +30 CEDAW action points. What remains, according to her, is effective implementation capable of delivering measurable results.

The Minister urged the committee members to apply their experience, creativity, and dedication to drive this initiative.

Highlighting the importance of the project, she remarked that the initiative goes beyond cooking fuels.

“It is about health, climate action, economic freedom, dignity, and, above all, empowering Nigerian women to illuminate the path to national development,” she stated.