The Global Initiative for Food Security and Ecosystem Preservation (GIFSEP), a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) in collaboration with Global Environmental Facility (GEF) on Thursday launched waste recycling programme and donated 150 bins to Government Science and Technological College, FCT.
Mrs Ronke Olubamise, National Coordinator, GEF, at the launching in Abuja, said that the bins provided were to encourage the students to understand the importance of waste management and put it into practice.
“There is the need for us to conserve and to use the natural resources in a very responsible manner.
“The way we use waste or discard waste is very bad; it has been very irresponsible, especially in this part of the world where people are not being controlled in a better way to manage waste.
“We discovered that it is easier to go through the younger ones who are still developing, who are still learning, for them to know the importance of using natural resources in a sustainable manner.
“So this is why we are targeting the students in the secondary schools and this waste recycling is one of the projects we are doing to ensure that waste is managed appropriately,’’ she said.
Olubamise said that the organisations were targeting all the Government secondary schools in the FCT, adding that they had already started extending the projects to the schools.
She said that the reason the organisations started with the Government Science and Technological College was because of the interest already shown by the students and the school’s administration.
“We decided to start with the school because you teach a school where you have seen so much of enthusiasm, where they have taken efforts and action to show that they are really serious.
“Another reason we chose the school is that this particular school in 2019 won an international award on art competition project with other government schools.’’
The national coordinator advised the students to take the programme seriously adding that the project could offer them more opportunities in the future.
Mr Joseph Ibrahim, Programme Manager of GIFSEP, who represented Mr David Terungwa, its Executive Director, said that the aim of the project was to enlighten the students on how to address environmental issues.
Terungwa said that the proper way to improve in waste management was to educate them on how to make better use of the bins both in the schools and at their various homes.
He said that the easier way of handling waste management was to start with the students in various schools, adding that the students would be able to transfer the knowledge to other people around their environment.
He said that the organisation had planted a lot of trees in the school as well as other government schools and established environmental clubs in many FCT schools.
The executive director said that the organisation had also embarked on sensitisation to the importance of the ecosystem while efforts were on to ensure that environmental challenges were being address in the country.
He added that the 150 bins provided by the organisations would enable the students to practice waste segregation to achieve waste management in an environment.
“This will help them know the right waste to reuse, recycle and the ones to discard.
Mrs Mercy Orishadipe, Eco Club Matron and a Senior English teacher of the school, expressed gratitude to the organisations on their efforts to ensure that environmental issues were address in the schools.
Orishadipe said that the effort of the organisations had really changed the school’s environment, adding that the trees they planted and the knowledge imparted on the students would help them to address environmental challenges.
She, however, advised other teachers to be involved in environmental programmes as such would help to improve the environment for the better.
Master Daniel Emmanuel, an SS 2 student, said that the programme had really helped the students and the teachers in ensuring that the school environment was clean and safe.
Emmanuel thanked the two organisations for providing the bins and imparting greater knowledge on how to control waste management adding that the students would extend the knowledge to their various homes.