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Students of different Schools in Anambra State in partnership with Live Mother and Child initiative and Mind Savers Youth Initiative and Nigeria Coalition of Eco-Social Research (NCEHR), yesterday, protested devastating effects of climate change in Nigeria, especially in the South east.
The students were drawn from Community Secondary School Enugwu-Agidi; SUSU College, Nkpor; Lighthouse Academy, Okija, Golden Star Secondary School, Amichi, as well as Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University Medical Student’s Association (COOUMSA), Awka, Anambra State.
The protesters highlighted several practices detrimental to the environment, which according to them, included: deforestation, poor waste management, use of fossil fuels that increase carbon footprint.
One of the protesters and member, Nigerian working group of Canadian Coalition for Global Health Research (NWG-CCGHR), Dr. Ngozi Joe-Ikechebelu, appealed to citizens to practice greener lifestyles in order to save the planet, just as she asked government to create and implement policies that would aid in the global fight against climate change.
Ikechebelu, who addressed journalists in Onitsha, expressed joy that Nigerian students were committed to reminding the government on the state of climate emergency in the country.
She said, “The protest taking place in different countries of the world is part of the global school students’ decision to demonstrate, through an international movement, called Friday For Future (FFF).
“In Nigeria, the FFF was organised by the NWG-CCGHR which comprised of Nigerian students at the University of Victoria (UVic) and British Columbia.”
