In a bid to combat plastic pollution and other environmental challenges in its campus and beyond, KolaDaisi University, Ibadan, [KDU-I], has entered into a strategic partnership with Seven-Up Bottling Company Ltd.
The Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof. Adeniyi Olatunbosun (SAN), disclosed this during a multi-disciplinary sensitization colloquium on the environment for the staff and students of the university in commemoration of the 2025 World Environment Day.
The event, which had the theme: ‘’Combating Plastic Pollution’’, took place at the Sherifat Agbeke Auditorium of the university.
The colloquium was convened by the Acting Head of Department of Private and Commercial Law, Dr Temilade Jolaosho. Jolaosho was the lead discussant, while Mrs Ebunoluwa Osisanwo of the Department of Public and International Law and Dr Mojisola Karigidi of the Department of Biological Sciences were also discussants. It was hosted by the Law Dean of the university, Prof. Kazeem Amusa. They all urged Nigerians to imbibe an environmentally friendlier attitude.
In his remarks, the Vice Chancellor, Olatunbosun, noted that KDU-I is engaging with the bottling company in order to spearhead strategic environmental awareness programmes.
According to the VC, the purpose of the partnership is to promote environmental awareness, sustainability and a mutually beneficial plan that would see Seven-up Bottling Company facilitate environmental management awareness programmes in terms of sensitisation and advocacy.
The professor said: “This is going to be a symbiotic form of advantage because it will offer the students both the insight of theoretical knowledge as well as the industrial aspect which is more of a practical aspect of it. They also plan with us to have a recycling and up-cycling initiative.
“We are going to separate most of the plastic waste that we have from other forms of biodegradable waste and then ensure that we compress the waste. We are going to bring some machines and a simulator to compress the waste. We hope that, at the end of the day, we can take the product out, which will also be a form of internally generated revenue for the university. The company also promised to light up our campus with a waste bin to draw awareness, which the students and the university community can explore.
“It is also planning towards infrastructural support. It is planning to help us build a cafeteria and a student arena where students can relax and take some of the products that they sell. So, we believe this will help the two institutions and we believe that more and more will be done.
“It will also provide an avenue for some of our students who are on industrial attachment programmes. Some of them will be able to go to the company in Lagos or Ibadan for industrial training. So these are part of what we believe will bring a form of robust partnership between us and the company”.
The Vice Chancellor also urged Nigerians to change in their attitudes towards the environment, calling on them to imbibe environmental friendly attitudes, especially with plastic products by disposing of them in a way that would not cause nuisance to the general public as well as the ecosystem.
Olatunbosun said: “It is expected that every one of us will be more conscious in how we dispose of plastics that we consume some products from, so as not just to find them in a place that will become a blockade to water running courses and channels.
“So, it’s part of what we are trying to do and then the awareness is for people to be conscious of our environment and ensure that we emphasize on recycling and also effective waste disposition, so as to bring our environment into a friendlier ecosystem and then it will also be for the benefit of us all.
“We are all living witnesses to flooding that we are experiencing in recent times, especially in Mokwa, Niger States and some other places in Nigeria. Some of these attitudes or some of the indiscriminate disposition of some of these wastes, especially plastics, because they are not perishable, so most of the time they live for a long time.
“So, when some of these things are just dumped anywhere without recycling them, it will eventually constitute a condense of products that will block waterways and when there is an inability of water flowing, at times it will cause flooding and other kinds of environmental situations. So I believe that when we are more conscious and we are more alert to our responsibilities as citizens of Nigeria, we are indirectly contributing to a safer environment in our society”, he concluded.
In his remarks, the Line Manager of Seven-up Bottling Company, Ibadan Plant, Godfrey Ononiba, warned that plastic pollution posed dangers to the environment. He urged Nigerians to embrace safe use of plastics.
The event featured presentations from students of different departments, goodwill messages from representatives of Seven-Up Company, words from the United Nations Environmental Programme Regional Observer, GreenAce Press News, and a panel session on the challenges and solutions of plastic pollution.
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