World Earth Day: Ogun Floats Sensitization Against Indiscriminate Waste Disposal, Open Defacation

By: Olufemi Orunsola 

As the world commemorates the year 2025 World Earth Day on April 22, the Ogun state government has urged the citizens to desist from indiscriminate waste disposal and open defecation. 

OPEN TELEVISION NAIJA (OTN) News reports that the Special Adviser to the governor on Youth, Comrade Olamide Lawal, who represented the Honourable Commissioner of Environment at a sensitisation talk organized to engage with market women in Abeokuta on Tuesday, as part of activities to commemorate the World Earth day as earmarked by the United Nations, made a call for collective responsibility and committed action on environmental cleanliness.

Lawal, a member of the Nigeria Environmental Society noted that “Today, April 22, is World Earth Day, the day that we celebrate the planet that we are living and as an environmentalist, we take it upon ourselves to bring this message to the market women, where a lot of waste are being generated."

He further stressed that, "We need to enlighten people on how to manage their waste because whatever happens to the planet reflects in us. When you have a very good environment, that is when you can have a better living standard."

He also added that, "I want to commend the state government for its commitment towards ensuring a clean environment in the state. I want to say that the Commissioner of Environment is really trying. He is an experienced person, a man who has also encouraged young people to be recycling their waste. We are not there yet, but I can assure you the future is very bright."

Lending further credence to the significance of the public sensitization talk for market women, the Chairman of Nigerian Environmental Society,(NES), Jamiu Badmus, stated that the reason for the program is to sensitise the market women against indiscriminate waste disposal and to educate them on how to maintain their waste, noting that market women play a crucial role in the environmental cleanliness curve of the state not only as market women but as mothers who will pass the orientation of environmental cleanliness to the younger generation of the society.