Pollution: Professor Advocates Involvement Of Nigerians In Environmental Improvement

Professor Olu-Owolabi affirmed that the pollution of the environment is the bane of the society and one of the biggest problems facing the world.

She gave the assertion while delivering the 575th Inaugural Lecture of the University of Ibadan, Ibadan, on behalf of the Faculty of Science.

The professor said her research showed that as a result of poor compliance enforcement and monitoring, both domestic and untreated industrial effluents are discharged directly or indirectly into city canals, thus rendering their vegetation unsuitable for human consumption.

Professor Olu-Owolabi, however, noted that as long as human beings keep polluting the environment, efforts to remove will continue because new classes of pollutants will keep on emerging.

She, therefore, charged Nigerians to stop complaining about the environment but begin to do things to make the environment a safer place.

The professor recommended that Nigerians should embrace Eco-Friendly choices, promote recycling at the household level, sort and manage wastes effectively, and drive community awareness, noting that, above all, law enforcement agencies, especially the Ministry of Environment, should enforce environmental laws.

The Inaugural Lecture, titled “Towards A Safer Environment: The Voyage of A Chemist”, was the twenty-fifth in the series for the 2023/2024 academic session.