By Thelaurel.com.ng
To mark 2021 International Youth Day, Lagos Ikoyi Lions Club District 404 A1in conjunction with Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) decided to have a programme on environmental issues for students of Master Moulder International School, Lekki and Lekki Peninsula College.
Lagos Ikoyi Lions Club, 2021/22 President, Lion Abdulkarim Yusuf, said the objective of the programme is to sensitize the pupils on current challenges so that the society will be better tomorrow.
The event, tagged: Importance of proper waste disposal, using the 3Rs, is aimed to inculcate in the youths the need and importance of proper waste disposal wherever they find themselves.
“In an interview with Thelaurel.com.ng, Abdulkarim Yusuf said : “We know the impact of waste management to global change and how it is affecting us here considering that Lagos is a low land area and we suffer a lot because of the global warming.
“Again, Lagos is an aquatic state and we know the impact as well as the implication of waste in the ponds, rivers and the effect on fishes.
“That is why we fix this meeting in collaboration with LAWMA and Lagos Ikoyi Lions Club deem it necessary to donate the Segregation Station to Master Moulder International School” he said.
He mentioned five focus areas which the club reaches out to the community: Environment, Diabetes, Vision, Hunger, and Paediatric Cancer.
According to him, the Environment is his second project as the president of the club, noting that his first project, done in July (Hunger Month), took place at Obalende axis.
“We did food collection package to more than 168 people in the society. We have our presence in over 200 countries with membership globally of 1.5 million.
LAWMA Head of Unit Assistant Director, Adedeji Victor, applauded Lion’s Club for embarking on the social responsibility in assisting LAWMA to teach the school children how to manage waste products.
“Improper disposal of waste in Lagos State is huge if the citizens are not abiding to proper waste disposal management, considering the population, considering the social economic activity, you will have continuous unwholesome environment, you will have continuous littering, in our streets,” he said.
He admonished residents to pay for services rendered by the authority, saying: “If people don’t pay for these services, particularly the PSP, it would affect his agency’s performance in carrying out its daily task of making our environs neat.”
Past President of the club 2017/2018, Lion. TPL Soledotun Abdulkarim -Yusuf, said by imparting on the youths they will be able to enlighten their friends what they learnt from the event. “If they see anyone dumping ‘pure water’ (sachet water) nylons or littering the streets with empty bottles water, they now understand the ways to separate it from normal waste, using the 3Rs methods of: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.
“August is tagged, International Youth’s Day in the Lions Club calendar all over the globe.
“As international youths’ day, Lions Club has already given permission to all Lions all over the world to celebrate the day.
“Reason Lions Ikoyi decided to engage the youths on the importance of proper waste disposal.”
According to her, the club also collaborated with Lagos State during her tenure.
“We collaborated with Lagos State Parks and Gardens, and they gave us a garden to reconstruct on Awolowo Road, the garden is still there,” she said.
Youth Committee Chairperson of the club, Afolake Ogunkoya, said the event is, indeed, an eye opening, adding that before now, she doesn’t have the idea of the 3Rs.
“I have not learnt how to dispose waste using the segregation method. Now, I have learnt how to reduce my waste, how we can separate the recyclable waste from the reusable waste. It is quite an experience,” she said.
Master Moulder International School Founder, Titilayo Shonaike, was full of gratitude to the Lions Club and LAWMA for the impartation of knowledge acquired by the students in waste disposal.
“The event is worth it and it is going to have a long impact on the children. They now understand they don’t need to dump everything together, and can even make some money from waste by recycling,” she said.
