The Lagos State University of Science and Technology joined the rest of the World to celebrate the World Environment Day (WED) at the College of Agriculture Main Auditorium, Ikorodu Campus on Monday, 5th June, 2023.
The event started in 1973 globally with its first celebration held in the United States of America (USA), it’s now 51years since the United Nations General Assembly designated every 5th of June to commemorate the day.
Prof. Olumuyiwa Odusanya, the Vice Chancellor, in his remarks, stated that the theme for the 2023 celebration “Solutions to Plastic Pollution” implies that plastics are a huge problem to mankind and solutions must be provided to tackle it. He explained that the broad goal of the celebration is to draw attention of the Global Community to the problem and to firm up actions that will reduce and eliminate plastic pollution. “In organizing this meeting, our university commits to dealing firmly with plastic pollution and will have a zero tolerance to plastic pollution. We will put in measures to promote recycling, re-use, prompt and safe disposal of plastics on all our campuses. We plan to spread the news of reducing plastic pollution to schools and our immediate communities” he said.
The Keynote Speaker, Prof. Kolawole Raheem in his presentation titled “Taking Action: Harnessing Innovation to Beat Plastic Pollution” addressed the topic while pointing out that the day is celebrated to encourage awareness and action for the protection of the worsening global environment.
He stressed that Nigeria consumes about 1.250Million tons of plastic annually and per capital plastic consumption has grown by 5%. He added that the wastes are created from non –renewable sources, the most predominant pollution in the world’s waterbodies. He further explained that the disadvantages of plastic pollution are more than the advantages.
