, a sustainability-focused organisation she founded, started to gain a lot of traction, she said she still felt underwhelmed with the movement.
Although the environmentalist think that only a few people believe in this idea because they are genuinely ignorant, she told TheCable it is only an emotional response for the larger percentage. “Climate denial is an emotional response and so when you see it in that light, you think education would help, and for some people you think the kind of work we do at Susty Vibes which is making these kinds of conversations actionable and relatable, would work but it just won’t help and you just have to move on to who you can help and who is ready to receive it. It’s all about getting people to make the right decisions and building a climate-smart generation.
After she graduated from Covenant University, the eco-feminist interned at the ministry of energy and mineral resources in Lagos. She recalled that she was labelled a “fraud” or a possible “spy”. The ministry officials simply could not understand why a right-thinking young person would “feign” interest in renewable energy. But Uchendu was different and she proved it. She would later work for a year learning the ropes in the sector.
At Jumia, although she worked in the communications space, she was determined to prove that she had more to offer. Pitching a sustainability-based project bordering on green fashion, the young environmentalist quickly gained the attention of her superiors. Although it was never executed, she said it gave her a sense of accomplishment.“I quit my job at Jumia to go to school but my visa was turned down,” she laughed dryly.
“I want to support young people who feel this way, particularly Africans, and just looking at how do we start to rethink climate adaptation as it relates to our own psychological well-being,” she said.