Michael Mbaike represents WAGEDI and Nigeria at an international youth geography forum — and reflects on what it could mean for Africa.
On 18 August 2026, Michael Mbaike, Administrative Officer and Research Assistant at the West Africa Green Economic Development Institute (WAGEDI), Gregory University Uturu, joined researchers and practitioners from 53 countries for the International Case Conference “BRICS+ Youth Geography Exchange: Country Perspectives in Focus.”
The conference — organised by the Ulyanovsk Regional Branch of the Russian Geographical Society and the “Russia–BRICS” Project Office for International Youth Cooperation — served as the pre-programme for the first BRICS+ Youth Geographical Forum, whose in-person sessions take place in Ulyanovsk and Moscow this September. It forms part of a wider push, formally welcomed by BRICS leaders in the 2024 Kazan Declaration, to establish 18 August as BRICS Geographer’s Day.
Nigeria’s Presentation
Speaking under the title “Nigeria’s Climate Geography: Youth, Action and Opportunity,” Mbaike set out a simple but often overlooked point: Nigeria does not have one climate story. The north contends with drought and desertification, the south with flooding and shifting rainfall, and the coast with rising vulnerability — each demanding different response.
His central message:
“Climate change is experienced in places — and by people living in those places.”
The presentation, framed around the idea of moving “from climate literacy to BRICS+ cooperation,” introduced the Russia Corridor as first from other corridors — a proposed programme of direct, people-to-people links between Nigerian and Russian youth for joint projects on climate and geography.
Mbaike’s session sat alongside presentations from India, Iran, South Africa, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Brazil and Russia, covering everything from the blue economy and seismic risk to invasive species and geological heritage — a reminder of how differently geography is lived, and studied, across the Global South.
WAGEDI’s Reflection: An Opportunity for Africa
The exchange reinforced a question WAGEDI has been considering for some time: what role can Africa — and Nigeria specifically — play in a platform like this? BRICS Geographer’s Day is still young. Russia has shaped its first chapter, and Egypt has already hosted activities on African soil. For WAGEDI, that signals the door is open, not closed.
WAGEDI does not see the answer as simply attending an annual event. There is a real opportunity for Nigeria to help shape what this becomes — connecting geography to priorities the country already has: climate resilience, green and blue economy development, youth skills, and genuine research partnerships with BRICS institutions.
As Michael Mbaike, who represented Nigeria at the conference, put it:
“Sitting in that conversation with young researchers from 53 countries, I kept coming back to one question: what does Africa do with a platform like this? I don’t think the answer is to simply attend. There’s a real opportunity for Nigeria to help shape what this becomes.”
WAGEDI has now published a fuller proposal for how Nigeria and West Africa could engage with this initiative, available for download below.
This article is a summary. Two fuller documents are available for anyone who wants the complete picture:
📄 WAGEDI Participation Report — the full institutional record of the conference: every speaker, every topic, the official quotes, and event documentation.
📄 Open Letter and Proposal: Bringing BRICS Geographer’s Day to Africa — WAGEDI’s proposal for domesticating BRICS Geographer’s Day in Nigeria and West Africa, addressed to the Russian Geographical Society, BRICS+ institutions, diplomatic missions, and development partners.
West Africa Green Economic Development Institute (WAGEDI-GUU) Gregory University Uturu, Abia State, Nigeria Executive Director: Prof. Magnus Onuoha
