By Azeez Disu

The Nigeria Conservation Foundation (NCF) in partnership with TotalEnergies, a leading multi-energy company, and the Lagos State Government embarked on tree planting and cleanup exercise with students to commemorate this year’s World Cleanup Day. 

The initiative is part of NCF’s effort to deepen the knowledge and culture of environmental protection, especially among students. The foundation and its partners sensitised the students of Obele Community Senior High School, Surulere, Lagos on the importance of World Cleanup Day and the need to clean up their environment regularly. Thereafter, they planted trees on their school premises and embarked on a cleanup exercise around the Surulere axis with the students. NCF also donated cleaning tools to the school.

NCF in a statement said the purpose of celebrating the day with the students is to equip them with the knowledge about their environment and how to protect it at the early stage of their lives. It added that the knowledge will have a positive impact on their families, communities, and the country.

World Cleanup Day is an annual global social action programme aimed at combating the global solid waste problem, including the problem of marine debris. The theme of this year’s celebration is “Let’s Do It World” and celebrated on 16th September across the world.

The Deputy Director, Conservation and Ecology, Ministry of Environment and Water Resource, Lagos State, Adeola Olabode, who was at the cleanup exercise said to prevent flood and other environmental issues, the environment needs to be protected.

He explained that “Mr. Governor (Babajide Sanwo-Olu) has declared zero tolerance to waste in Lagos State; we must take proper care of our waste. The demonstration we are doing today will add to that and it will inculcate that habit of cleanliness into the students. 

They will carry what has been leant to their respective homes and with that, we are entrenching environmental sustainability in them.”

The principal of the school, Falaiye Olugbenga, expressed his excitement about picking his school as the venue to commemorate the annual event. He stated that the gesture is an addition to what the students had learned in class about issues concerning the environment and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and it would boost their understanding and participation in serving as environmental stewards.

The Nigerian Conservation Foundation is the premier non-governmental organization (NGO) dedicated to nature conservation and sustainable development in Nigeria.