Kuni Tyessi in Abuja
As part of activities marking the 2026 World Environment Day, students in Lagos, Port Harcourt and Abuja took part in tree planting and plastic cleanups which was organized by Hope Aglow Charity Foundation, UNA Nigeria, and Bingham University.
Held under the theme ‘Inspired by Nature. For Climate. For Our Future,’ the events led to the planting of over 500 trees and distribution of over 300 reusable bottles and waste segregation bins installed in schools.
Tied directly to UN Sustainable Development Goals, SDGs 11, 12, 13, 14, and 15, the events combined school outreach with an evening international webinar.
In her keynote address, Chairman, Climate Action and SDGs UNA Nigeria, Prof. Cynthia Amaka Obiorah, said nature provides the blueprint for solutions to which humanity must provide the will, policy and consistent action.
In leading the Lagos campaign with students at Obele Community High School tagged ‘One Student, One Tree’ exercise, Obiorah reaffirmed that the government’s commitment towards ensuring the SDG goals attached to environment were well secured.
In a statement signed by Obiorah, UNA- Nigeria President Prof. Remi Olutimo while informing the students that the programme linked deforestation to local flooding, reiterated that: “Trees are Nigeria’s first line of defence against erosion, heat stress, and air pollution.”
The statement also revealed that in Port Harcourt, Government Secondary School, Eneka focused on Niger Delta issues and the lasting effects of water and air pollution in the lives of the locals, more so, on their means of livelihood which is predominantly water.
Obiorah inaugurated students as environmental ambassadors and supervised over 300 reusable water bottles being distributed to cut sachet water use, and indigenous seedlings were planted.
She said to the students: “Be the solution to plastic pollution…We do not inherit the earth from our forebears; we borrowed it from future generations. Therefore, we must return it better than we met it.”
At Bingham University, New Karu- Abuja, students and staff planted shade trees and held a campus clean-up. The ‘Think Green Before You Act’ campaign promoted energy conservation and reduced plastic use.
A follow-up of the day’s event was an evening webinar that featured speakers including Dr. Rui Dai of the International Artificial Intelligence Association on AI and climate action, as well as Dr. Tong Xu, Senior Observer at UN Climate Change Conferences.
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