Ikoyi Golf Club Ladies Lead Climate Awareness, Tree Planting in Schools

The Ikoyi Club 1938 Ladies’ Section recently took its climate advocacy beyond the greens, spearheading a school-based climate awareness and tree-planting initiative to promote environmental sustainability and youth participation in climate action across Lagos State. The programme, held at Wahab Folawiyo Comprehensive Junior and Senior High School, Ikoyi, featured climate sensitisation sessions, donation of tree seedlings, planting equipment, fertilisers, and hands-on planting, in partnership with the Lagos State Office of Sustainable Development Goals, underscoring the growing role of private organisations in complementing government efforts to address climate change while fostering long-term environmental stewardship among students. Sunday Ehigiator reports

The school environment at Wahab Folawiyo Comprehensive Junior and Senior High School, Ikoyi, provided the setting for a focused engagement on climate change education, environmental stewardship and collective responsibility. The gathering shifted attention beyond routine academic instruction to critical global issues, particularly the growing threats posed by climate change and the need for informed and coordinated action to address them.

The occasion was the Climate Change Sensitisation, Seedling Donation and Tree Planting Event, organised by the Ikoyi Club 1938 Ladies’ Golf Section in collaboration with the Lagos State Office of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and other partners.

The programme aligns with Sustainable Development Goal 13 (Climate Action), which emphasises the urgency of strengthening awareness, education, and institutional capacity to mitigate and adapt to climate-related challenges.

By targeting schools, the initiative underscored the strategic importance of early sensitisation in building knowledge, responsibility and long-term commitment to environmental sustainability.

Beyond the planting of trees, the engagement served as a structured platform for climate awareness and policy-oriented education, highlighting the direct implications of climate change for human health, food security, environmental stability and economic development.

The sensitisation drive reinforced the role of knowledge and education as essential tools in empowering present and future generations to participate meaningfully in climate action and to contribute to the protection of humanity and the environment.

Beyond Golf: A Sustainability Mission Takes Shape

At the heart of the initiative is Mrs Peggy Onwu, Lady Captain of the Ikoyi Golf Club 1938 Ladies’ Section, whose tenure has been defined by an insistence that leadership must transcend comfort zones.

“Our golf course has existed for nearly a century,” Onwu said. “Many of the trees within the club are between 80 and 100 years old. They give us clean air, serenity and a healthy environment. We enjoy these benefits daily, and we asked ourselves a simple question: what are we giving back?”

That question became the foundation of a sustainability agenda anchored on the Ladies’ Section’s guiding philosophy: “Go Beyond. Reach It. Live It. Play It.”

According to Onwu, the motto was deliberately crafted to push the club beyond recreational activities and into meaningful social impact.

“Golf is recreation, yes,” she noted, “but life itself is bigger than golf. Sustainability is about reaching out, living our values and ensuring that what we enjoy today is preserved for tomorrow.”

School as the Starting Point

The choice of Wahab Folawiyo Comprehensive Junior and Senior High School was both strategic and symbolic. Located close to the Ikoyi Golf Club, the school represents a generation that will inherit the consequences of today’s environmental decisions.

“This is your community,” Onwu said, while addressing the students. “We cannot claim to be reaching out if we do not reach out to you.”

A Practical Model of Biodiversity

For the Chairperson of the Ikoyi Club 1938 Lady Golfers’ Committee on Sustainability, Mrs Irene Ubah, the project was as practical as it was symbolic.

“When the Lady Captain challenged us to think about biodiversity, our first reaction was confusion. We asked ourselves, what does golf have to do with biodiversity? Then we looked around us and realised—we are surrounded by trees.”

That realisation led to a simple idea: collect seeds from existing trees within Ikoyi Club, nurture them, and return them to the community as seedlings.

From palm trees to almond trees, flame-of-the-forest species and frangipani cuttings, volunteers gathered seeds that would otherwise go unnoticed. Over time, these seeds were nurtured in a nursery, watered, monitored and grown into healthy seedlings.

In total, the project produced over 3,200 seedlings, more than 100 of which were donated to schools in the Ikoyi axis during the event.

“The cost is not just financial,” Ubah explained. “It is in the labour, the patience, the care. Gardening is a commitment. Sustainability is commitment.”

Recycling, Responsibility and Everyday Choices

Beyond tree planting, the initiative also addressed another visible environmental challenge: plastic waste.

Ubah pointed to the prevalence of plastic bottles and sachet water waste, particularly in urban schools.

“When plastic waste ends up in drainage channels, it causes flooding. Flooding destroys homes, roads and livelihoods. Climate change is not abstract; it is personal.”

Recycling bins were listed as part of the broader sustainability drive, with students encouraged to dispose of plastic waste responsibly. The long-term plan includes partnerships with recycling plants, turning waste into reusable industrial materials.

“It is about awareness,” Ubah added. “Once you know better, you must do better.”

Government and Policy Alignment

The presence of the Lagos State Office of Sustainable Development Goals underscored the alignment between private-led initiatives and public policy.

Representing the office, Head of Department, Outreach and Advocacy, Mrs Zaria Ido, described the programme as a model of effective collaboration.

“The Lagos State Government is fully committed to climate action. His Excellency, the Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has pledged to plant one million trees every year. Initiatives like this contribute directly to that goal.”

According to her, the government has undertaken tree planting programmes across communities, schools and public spaces, recognising trees as a critical defence against erosion, flooding and rising temperatures.

“Planting is important,” she stressed, “but nurturing is even more important. These trees must grow, mature and protect future generations.”

Students as Stakeholders, Not Spectators

One of the most striking aspects of the event was the active participation of students; not as passive observers, but as stakeholders.

During interactive sessions, students answered questions, shared ideas and demonstrated an understanding of environmental concepts. Some had previously participated in sustainability activities organised by Ikoyi Golf Club, including a competition in which Wahab Folawiyo School emerged top among more than ten schools in Lagos State.

For the organisers, this engagement reinforced the belief that young people are not too young to lead.

“In this room,” Ubah told the students, “may be a future president, a policymaker, a scientist. But nothing happens by chance. It happens through action.”

The initiative also received support from Lafarge PLC, whose contribution of seedlings and alignment with youth-focused environmental sensitisation was acknowledged by the organisers.

Environmental experts note that such collaborations are essential if Nigeria is to meet its climate goals, especially in urban centres like Lagos, where population pressure and development continue to strain natural ecosystems.

Climate Action as Legacy

Beyond policy and partnerships, the emotional core of the event lay in its focus on legacy. Students were encouraged to take ownership of the trees planted; nurturing them, protecting them and, one day, returning proudly to a tree they helped plant.

“Years from now,” Onwu said, “you should be able to say, I planted that tree. That is a legacy.”

The message resonated deeply in a country grappling with environmental degradation, flooding and climate vulnerability. Nigeria, experts warn, is one of the countries most exposed to the impacts of climate change, from rising sea levels to food insecurity.