The Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) has lauded the Foundation for a Better Foundation (FABE Foundation) for promoting eco-consciousness and environmental sustainability among schoolchildren in the state.
Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of LAWMA, Dr Muyiwa Gbadegesin, represented by Mrs. Bola Adewunmi, Director, LAWMA Academy, said this at the closeout ceremony of EcoSchoolNg project on Thursday, March 27, 2025, in Lagos.
The EcoSchoolsNG initiative was borne out of a vision to empower young people with the knowledge, skills, and mindset to become champions of sustainability, stewards of the environment, and pioneers of the circular economy.
The project is championed by FABE Foundation, an environmental sustainability non-governmental organisation (NGO), under the sponsorship of Aspire Coronation Trust Foundation (ACT Foundation) and Access Bank to promote climate action.
Gbadegesin commended the initiative and efforts of FABE in training climate conscious youths in the promotion of a circular economy.
“Basically the programme today is about turning waste into wealth, which is primarily the sources waste management. We want to reduce what goes into our landfills and we are also teaching the kids out there to reuse and then reduce waste.
“At LAWMA, we believe it is not waste until it is wasted.
“What we are propagating now is for the children to sort their waste from source, so that the waste that can be recycled, can be properly used in a clean state.
“FABE Foundation is an NGO that we have identified with, in teaching and educating the students, especially in public schools both theoretically and hands on where they learn how to turn tyres into ottomans and chairs.
“They learn also how to make flower vases from pet bottles covers. All tiers of education from the primary, to the secondary and tertiary schools are being taught how to turn waste to resources.
“This has made these students entrepreneurs even from a young age.
“LAWMA is also propagating education in sustainability so our children can imbibe the culture of a cleaner and safer environment for us all,” Gbadegesin said.
One of the Eco-ambassadors and a participant at the 10-month EcoschoolNg project, Ahmed Robiu of Lagos Progressive Senior Secondary School, was grateful to be part of the sustainability training.
“My experience at the EcoSchoolNG 10-month programme brought me great happiness and intelligence.
“Without the introduction of EcoSchoolNG, we have not been able to turn our waste to wealth but with the knowledge we have acquired through FABE foundation.
“We can now turn our trash to treasure and change our surroundings by recycling and upcycling.
“And I started my first earning with N50,000 with a capital of just N10,000 I loaned from my mother.
“We do not have furniture in our house, we were not able to accommodate our visitors, now with training from FABE foundation I have been able to turn my plastic waste into a beautiful ottoman that we can use to entertain our visitors.
“My message to parents out there is to encourage their kids in whatever they are doing in environmental sustainability,” Robiu said.
Another participant at the EcoschoolNg project, Oyindamola Adenaike, Abesan Senior High School Lagos, appreciated the foundation for equipping the students with life skills.
“FABE foundation has taught us that we should not spend our money, we should not waste our money to buy things that we can easily source for through the use of waste resources.
“FABE foundation with the help of this programme have impacted us, that we are not doing this for only ourselves, we are doing it for the betterment of others, our environment and the economy,” Adenaike said.
By Mercy Omoike