Global oil giant, Shell, has announced the launch of a public service campaign in Nigeria as part of an international effort to encourage debate on how a rapidly expanding world population can meet its energy needs.
The company said in a statement on Monday that the 2016 campaign christened, #makethefuture, was aimed at promoting advocacy and partnership for bright energy ideas as part of Shell’s thought leadership on the future of energy.
The oil major said traditional and social media advertising and other targeted activities would be used for the campaign, with “energy-engaged millennials (aged roughly between 18 and 34), who are expected to lead the debate on energy efficiency” being the primary target.
The Managing Director, Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited and Country Chair, Shell Companies in Nigeria, Mr. Osagie Okunbor, was quoted as saying, “The campaign is an important contribution to the debate on the future of energy, especially in Nigeria. Like everyone else, we are keen to see how a growing population will provide for its energy needs.
“Studies show that energy use has increased globally at the same time that we face the challenges of climate change and reduction of CO2 emissions. The campaign, therefore, seeks to challenge assumptions and spark imaginative thinking on how to make today’s energy go further and to find cleaner energy for the future.”
According to Shell, a key feature of the campaign is the build-up from the kinetic football pitch built by the firm at the Federal College of Education, Akoka, Lagos. The pitch, which was launched in November 2105, is powered by a combination of player activity and solar energy, and is the first of its type in Africa, and second only to Brazil globally.
The company said as part of the campaign, there would be simultaneous football matches in Lagos, London and Brazil on the pitches on June 30, 2016, in a bid to further arouse public awareness on the bright energy ideas.
It said the campaign, which will also holds in several other countries, including the United States, United Kingdom, China and Brazil, would end in August, adding it hoped that the resultant discussions and debates would lead to ideas that would contribute to sustainable solutions to the global energy challenge.
In 2014, Shell commissioned a ‘Future of Energy Survey,’ which revealed that more than four out of five Nigerian respondents were interested in the topic of energy, with reliable electricity ranking alongside employment and job security as their most important issue of concern.
