REPORT ON THE COASTAL LITTER CLEANUP/CHAT ON CLIMATE CHANGE AND RESILENCE WITH MEMBERS OF THE OGOGORO ISLAND COMMUNITY, LAGOS, NIGERIA.
Date: November 30, 2022.
BACKGROUND One of the fastest-growing pervasive and rapidly moving anthropogenic changes to the world’s waters and coasts is litter. Litter is one of the most critical environmental problems facing humanity, along with climate change, and requires immediate attention. All current coastal and marine ecosystems, including beaches, dunes, abyssal plains, and underwater canyons, among others, have been documented for their litter magnitudes and distribution, as well as the associated negative environmental effects.
Research has shown that Nigeria is severely affected by marine pollution, which poses substantial hazards to biodiversity and marine life because of the alarming amount of plastic waste and marine litter. Poor waste management on land, a lack of or insufficient infrastructure for collecting litter, a lack of or lax enforcement of waste management laws, a lack of public awareness of proper waste disposal procedures or the effects of poor waste management practices on the environment and human health are all contributing factors to the problem of marine litter.
The African Marine Environment Sustainability Initiative (AFMESI), a nongovernmental organization (NGO) working to protect, restore, and improve the quality of the marine environment all through the African continent. This is why we organized a small-scale execution of coastal litter clean-up/chat in the Ogogoro Island community also supported by The Climate Strong Islands Network and The Ocean Foundation. The Ogogoro Island is located in Eti Osa (Lagos State) can also be referred to as Atlas cove community. The community is made up of people from different tribes in Nigeria and foreigners, and the common language of communication among the people is Yoruba, Pidgin and English. Most of the dwellers in the community are predominantly fishermen, coconut farmers, petty traders, boat drivers, chandlers and tour guides. However, there are few, who work or do their businesses at the uptown of the state.
SUMMARY
The President of AFMESI, Dr. Felicia Chinwe Mogo visited the people of Ogogoro Island about six years ago before she retired from service for a cleanup exercise organized by the government. AFMESI’s team also visited the community in 2019 for a cleanup organized by AFMESI. In response to the demands of the Ogogoro Island community, AFMESI has decided to conduct another cleanup/chat exercise in order to increase public awareness of environmental protection, climate change adaptation, and to educate the people on recent flooding in Nigeria.
The main aim of the exercise was to provide the Ogogoro Island community with knowledge and resources for taking appropriate waste disposal, waste separation, and waste evacuation measures. According to the President, the Ogogoro Island community has been one of the top communities on her mind, which is why the AFMESI team has decided to come and have another cleanup and a chat with the residents of the community. The Ogogoro Island community’s source and kind of marine litter are already known to the AFMESI team. During past community cleanup efforts, it was observed that household waste, plastic bottles, Tyres, synthetic fibers, and leaves, among other materials, made up the majority of the waste in the community.
In light of this, AFMESI provided cleaning supplies such as large waste bins, rakes, tshirts, nose masks, leather hand gloves, etc. 5 The AFMESI team, AFMESI project partners, and residents of Ogogoro Island participated in the beach cleanup event that took place on Saturday, November 26, 2022. The community chairperson, Mr. Ayodeji, gave the opening remark on this day and commended AFMESI for its unwavering support of the Ogogoro Island community. He also expressed how appreciative the community as a whole is of the entire AFMESI team. Dr. Felicia Mogo, the founder of AFMESI, spoke during the chat session and highlighted the significance and importance of coastal litter cleanup. She also stated that exercise should be a continuous practice for the community’s residents, and she encouraged them to practice sustainability.
The community’s Baale also expressed his deep gratitude to the entire AFMESI team for love and support throughout the years. The effect of residing in a clean environment was addressed by the other AFMESI team members and partners present. Then, in order to prepare for the cleanup exercise, each group of people present was divided into various teams. Each team was assigned a portion of the beach to clean and the tools for the cleanup were distributed accordingly.
The community lacks sufficient infrastructure for collecting litter, and we also noticed that there are no waste dump sites there, so people bury their waste instead, which has been uncomfortable for the residents since most of the waste are household waste, consisting of waste plastics, nylons, paper, shoes, tyres, and other items. The members of the community expressed a need for borehole e because despite been surrounded by water, getting a clean and germ-free water has been one of the major challenges in the community.
OPENING SPEECH The President, Dr. Mogo, gave the opening remarks. In her speech, the President emphasized the value of environmental preservation and said that AFMESI has plans to improve the host community further in order to fulfill its NGO’s corporate social responsibility. Dr. Mogo praised the residents for keeping the neighborhood clean and urged them to continue the excellent work. Mrs. Gloria Adie-Ayabie Member AFMESI Ocean Literacy and Education Team and Mr. Ayodeji, the partner of AFMESI, each gave a brief presentation in English and Yoruba on the importance of maintaining the coastal community’s cleanliness. 14 DR. Mogo during the chat session 15 Dr. Mogo during the chat session
CLEANUP BEGINS
All those present were then divided into teams, with each team given required tools to clean. Rakes, gloves, waste bins, and trash bags were among the equipment distributed to the several teams for the cleanup. As a result of the teamwork, the cleanup exercise was enjoyable, everyone enjoyed themselves,
and residents of the host town understood the significance of maintaining a clean environment.
OUTCOME OF THE CLEAN UP EXERCISE
In order to prevent and reduce marine trash from entering the coastal ecosystem, garbage bins were provided to the host community of Ogogoro Island after members of the community had been made aware of correct waste management techniques. Members of the communities were also given tools for the cleanup exercise, such as rakes, hand gloves, wastebins, and nylons, to use during environmental sanitation exercises. The results of the cleanup exercise are shown in the images above.
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