Bahijjatu Abubakar
Founder of Rural Women Energy Security (RUWES) Initiative
Engr (Mrs) Bahijjahtu Hadiza Abubakar was born 15 June 1966 in Kaduna, Kaduna State. She is a Mechanical Engineer and also holds an MSc in Environmental Engineering from the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom and specialized training in Climate Change and Energy from Harvard University.
She pioneered Renewable Energy on Nigeria for 10 years and is currently the Head of Division, Pollution Control, and Environmental Health. She is on the Board of Directors of Access to Renewable Energy (AtRE), a project funded by UNDP and the Bank of Industry, Nigeria. A project that provides financing for renewable energy entrepreneurs to stimulate the sector for rapid growth. She was elected the global Co-Chair for the Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) to reduce Short-Lived Climate Pollutants in 2012. Part of her responsibilities at the CCAC was fashioning out policies that will help reduce the effects of black carbon, HFCs and methane emissions worldwide. She is particularly interested in ensuring maximum awareness on Short-Lived Climate Pollutants( SLCPs) in Africa bringing high-level political attention to challenges of indoor air pollution from cooking and lighting. She is leading the new National Clean Air Programme to position Nigeria to lead Africa in the CCAC global campaign with WHO and the Norwegian government called “Breathe Life” to curb air pollution worldwide. The success of this initiative got Kaduna State (the sixth most polluted city) to roll out new clean air policies that promote clean development.
She is on the Steering Committee of the Global Methane Initiative, an international partnership that brings together national governments, private sector entities, development banks, NGOs, and other interested stakeholders in a collaborative effort to reduce methane gas emissions and advance methane recovery and use as a clean energy source.
Due to her undying love for the rural, she developed the Rural Women Energy Security (RUWES) Initiative in 2013 and has registered over two million women focusing on how to eradicate energy poverty and pollution by empowering women with new skills that promote rural economic opportunities Engr (Mrs) Bahijjahtu Abubakar has been recognized and applauded worldwide for using her expertise to uplift women and girls while protecting the environment.