An international student from the Marquette University Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, Janet Akor, has called on the Lagos State Government and Lagosians to take concrete actions toward ensuring a cleaner and healthier environment.
Speaking with CAMPUSLIFE, she sought the full participation of Lagosians in collaboration with the Clean Community Campaign (CCC) to create awareness among citizens on the need for environmental consciousness.
This, she said, was due to the growing population and the vast economy of the state.
She said the campaign was dedicated to addressing the consequences of environmental degradation through periodic sensitisation online and offline.
Akor stressed the need for healthy living and proper waste disposal while encouraging them to take responsibility for the cleanliness of their own community.
According to Akor, the population of Lagos was growing 10 times faster than that of New York and Los Angeles, noting that Nigeria’s most densely populated city had almost 25 million people and was increasing to about 600,000 yearly.
“As with many cities in developing countries, many residents lack an adequate water supply and sanitation: fundamental human rights essential for the health of all people.
“Poor access to improved water and sanitation in Nigeria remains a major contributing factor to high morbidity and mortality rates among children under five,” she said.
She stated that the use of contaminated drinking water and poor sanitary conditions result in increased vulnerability to water-borne diseases, including diarrhoea which leads to the deaths of more than 70,000 children under five yearly.
“Nigeria is already experiencing the effects of climate change. There are variable and extreme weather events: increased temperatures, variable precipitation, floods, droughts, desertification, land degradation, and loss of biodiversity.
“These changing weather patterns are already disrupting livelihoods, leading to even deeper impoverishment and conflicts over the dwindling resources,” she added.
