The Lagos State Government through four of its agencies, on Thursday, tasked youths on environmental sustainability.
The government declared its readiness to engage youths in environmental activism that will further expose youths to the vulnerability of the environment, unfriendly environmental practices and the need to adopt a more sustainable lifestyle.
This was made known in a joint statement released by the General Manager, Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency, (LASEPA ), Dr Dolapo Fasawe; the Managing Director, Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA), Ibrahim Odumboni; Managing Director, Lagos State Signage & Advertising Agency (LASAA), Prince Adedamola Docemo and the General Manager, Lagos State Parks and Gardens, Mrs. Adetoun Popoola.
These heads of agencies gave this charge during an advocacy talk and quiz competition organized for students of some state public schools at the 25th convocation ceremony of the Lagos State University (LASU), held at Ojo, Lagos, to test their knowledge on basic environmental topics.
The event, according to the organizers was to felicitate with the state’s oldest owned university, Lagos State University (LASU), on the occasion of its 25th convocation ceremony and further commemorate the achievement of the citadel of learning with an environmental friendly awareness program to reawaken the consciousness of taking actions against pollution.
According to them, various laudable programs have been embarked upon by the State Government for the purpose of directing the attention of school pupils to the environment sustainable at a tender age.
The statement reads: “In recognition of the importance of our youth as agent of change who needs to urgently show commitment through their lifestyles and actions to tackle global environmental problems, this program was collectively put together as a single voice, confronted with multiple common challenges attributed to unfriendly practices, that if not addressed, may lead to natural disasters.
“Young people constitute a large part of the world’s population, hence the need to inculcate good habits in them and imbibe the culture of responsibilities and wise use of the environment. Therefore, today’s move was to reaffirm our collective responsibility to environmental education and youth participation in environmental protection,” they echoed.”
The quiz competition which had students drawn from various schools around LASU/Ojo and its environs produced four winners, which include; Omijie Happiness, Azurundu Munachi Bridget, Okafor Divine of Iba Housing Estate respectively and Esther Ayomide of Army Cantonment Girls school.
The winners were presented with gifts and cash prices for being the winners, while other participants were also rewarded with eco-friendly products such as reusable bags, multiple-use bottles, plant seedlings and degradable refuse bags.
The organizers maintained that the choice of the gift was symbolic and in support of the recycling approach as well as the circular economy drive of the government.
