NCF Calls on Nigerians to Join Fight against Plastic Pollution

Bennett Oghifo

The Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF) has called on every Nigerian to join the Fight against plastic pollution.
Speaking at the Foundation’s Green Ball event in Lagos, the Chairman of the National Executive Council of the Nigerian Conservation Foundation,
Honourable Justice Bukola Adebiyi said,
“This is one of our flagship events. Every year we have three flagship events, the SLA do lecture at the beginning of the year, October, November, we have the walk for nature, and then before the end of the year, we have the Green Ball. And the essence of all these events, first of all, is advocacy. We always pick topics to advocate on, and this year has been about plastic pollution. Even our walk was Beat Plastic Pollution. And the theme of this evening is Raising Funds to Fight Plastic Pollution. So it’s very topical. It’s a very topical topic all over the world. “We’re all aware that we are generally where we are generating plastic and the rate at which we’re generating plastic, we don’t have anywhere to dispose of them, and in disposing of them, they’re getting into the oceans. They’re causing pollution. They’re being eaten by the fish that we are eating, which is having adverse effects on us. For us in Lagos, State in particular, it’s clogging up all our drains. We have incessant flooding. So Lagos State Government in particular, has come up with a lot of policies and new legislation on plastic. We all need to get on the bandwagon. We need to recycle. We need to be aware. We need to push industries and manufacturers to use materials that are recyclable. “It’s not all materials that can be recycled easily. We don’t have enough recycling companies, institutions in the country that can use these plastics that are being dumped into the environment. So we all need to get on the bandwagon, and that’s why we’re having this event this evening.”
Chairperson of the Business Development Committee of the Nigerian Conservation Foundation,
Dame Marie Fatayi Williams, said, “Today we are talking about beating plastic pollution, which is part of the focus of Lagos state as well. They banned single use plastic, they have asked them to recycle, to reduce and to reuse, and this is part of what we are here for. So if we do not create this awareness, people will not be up to speed to realise the damage that plastic is doing to our environment, and they will think that, Oh, they thought the government is just being finicky by saying these kinds of things. But we have to create that empowerment, that environment, that mindset for people to see the damage to environment that this non degradable plastic does, to block it, to our drainage and everything, and know that it’s not fit for purpose to use them anymore. And so there are alternatives. So we must get these companies that are actually producing and using these single use plastics to recycle, reduce or just not use it at all.

If the common man realises that this plastic when the little molecule, is going to the water that he drinks, and it becomes a health problem for him, which maybe is not even able to afford the treatment for it, we’ll realise that what we are doing is for the benefit of the common man more than anybody else, because it’s harmful to the person. It’s harmful to climate. Harmful. “Forget about climate. It is harmful to your person. It kills. all these little classes are going to the water system, and then if you have blocked drainages, if you live in a place where the place always flooded, because the drainages are blocked with plastic and pollution and everything, it’s health hazard. On the contrary, it is for the benefit of the poorest of the poor.

Because if you look at what even the church preaches that the earth is becoming a pile of filth, to the extent that people do not realize that our common home is no more fit for purpose, for living. The climate is burning everything. Look at dump sites. For example. People go there to pick all sorts of rubbish, and then it blocks, it destroys the environment. But if you now say that, if you pick these plastics and bring it to me, I’ll give you something. It makes some sense. So we are trying to let people know that if you collect plastics, it’s not for no reason. When you collect it, bring it to us, we will exchange it with either cash or kind for you. So there is an incentive to bring these plastics so that it is for the good of the poor, because the church says there are two cries, the cry of the poor and the cry of the earth. “So, if the Earth is crying, the poor is crying. So if you stop the Earth from crying, you will also stop the poor from crying, because you will put food into their hands, and then you will give them good health of mind and body. The way out is for us to work in tandem, work together, and actually relieve this suffering in the land, in the sense that pollution is suffering, climate change, the heating of the populace, of the of the atmosphere, is suffering. Wthe earth cannot survive if you go beyond that 1.5 Celsius degree is a point where they call point of no return. So what happens to you and I? So the sooner we face the reality of the day of climate change and these problems, the better. Granted, the global south is hasn’t has less to contribute to the to climate change than the Global North. That’s part of the discussion that’s going on in the call. That’s going on in the cup and stuff. The global south has more issues, more things to ask for, for them to sort of give us debt relief and see where we are coming from, that even though there is pollution, we are not the greater polluters, because Industrial Revolution had done all of the pollution that we’re talking about now that so we cannot suffer completely, so they’ve got to give us some relief. And so that’s why we’re talking about climate justice. You know, when you talk of climate justice, it’s a matter of dispersing, negotiating, also, how you do this energy transition. Energy Transition is justifiable. Energy Transition that does not hurt the global south more than anything else. Lagos State in particular, you saw what the commissioner for environment is doing. He is really up to the task. You see the way he’s doing it, all those areas that is clearing the gutters and clearing the pathways. If he does not talk about this plastic and this not degradable things that are in the earth, in the drainage, then he is not fit for purpose because, but he’s doing the right thing by creating this awareness and by saying that he’s burning it. But the only thing he should follow through is that these companies, these shops that are producing these plastics, are they doing exactly what they should be doing. That is where it is. Because we can say, you ban it, but okay, you ban plastic carrying plastic bags. People still go to the shops and they still give them plastic bags. People are they’re actually doubling the price of the plastic bags from what I’ve seen. Where is that money going? That is where the government should follow. Follow that money if they are given plastic bags and making money from the plastic bags, who? Where is the money going into they should not so for me, there is still a lot to be done there in that area. You must follow it through. If you’ve banned it, then show me the paper bags you’re giving people. If you are still giving plastic bags and you’re charging double, because, for example, they will tell you it’s bigger plastic bags. So you can use one for your whole shopping. But there’s money you’re paying money for it. Where is that money going?”
The Director General of the Nigerian Conservation Foundation,
Dr. Joseph Onoja, “Our annual green ball is our event, a fundraiser event for the conservation activities that we do as the Nigerian Conservation Foundation. So usually we theme it with the year’s theme of World Environment Day, which is to Beat Plastic Pollution. For the year 2025, all we’re trying to do is to raise awareness of the menace of plastic pollution and how it affects the environment and how it affects biodiversity, and, especially, how they end up in our ocean and water bodies, and how eventually it affects human health. So we are trying to use this medium to create that awareness while we relax and also raise funds for this purpose, and which we do with our various conservation activities. So that is why this is set up purposely for this year 2025.
“So at the Nigerian Conservation Foundation, we continue to create awareness of the issues of the environment as we continue to implement conservation actions on the ground across the country, from the Niger Delta to the to the Sahel, where we have a project currently ongoing with local farmers how to create early signs, early warning signals for them, as relates to the conservation of the Hadaja-Nguru wetlands, which is a very important wetlands for migratory birds when they migrate during winter, from Europe and northern the global north towards the Sub Saharan Africa. So the Hadaja Nguru wetlands is the kind of the first oasis that they meet. So we have a lot of migratory birds congregating there, and that Wetlands is not just important for birds alone, but also for the community living around there. Talk about farmers. We talk about Fisher folks and so on. So we’re with the with the support from UNDP SGP, that is a small grant programme, we’re able to put up a conservation action there, working with farmers to create an early warning signal so that farmers will not be taken on aware, especially with the changes in climate and so on, and the rainfall pattern. We are doing that to infuse the issues of climate change, the issues of livelihood and the issues of conservation in implementing that project.
“We also work in the Niger Delta, with some communities, looking at mangrove restoration, where we work with different companies as well, private sector to be able to push the issues of conservation and how also it affects livelihood. Because at the end of the day, as we normally see when we protect the environment, we’re not just protecting the environment for protection sake. We’re protecting the environment to play its vital ecosystem service that nature has put in place so that it will help in also protecting humans as well at the end of the day. Because whatever we do with the environment is to for the well being and the benefit of humans, and that is why talking about the Omo Forest Reserve, where we manage with the Ogun State Government. “We have some very important biodiversity there. We have the forest elephant. We have the Nigerian cavalry chimpanzee and other very iconic species there that need to be protected. And it’s important to note that that habitat is also the the watershed of the Lagos lagoon. So it’s very important as well for for Lagos. So something that happens upland will be important for what happens downstream.” In Cross River State, we are working with communities to be able to protect the high forest there, which is the buffer zone of the national park, to be able to ensure that the habitat there is protected to serve its ecosystem, service for the community and for the biodiversity in that place. So across the country, we will be so busy throughout this year, and this a time for us to gather to thank our funders and our partners and our members, say thank you for the work that we are doing now, to showcase what we are doing while we theme it with this year’s World Environment Day, the theme Beat Plastic Pollution.”