Miss Nigeria, Chioma Obiadi has advised children to cultivate the habits of maintaining hygienic environment by properly disposing waste generated by them.
She told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) at the end of an interactive session with over 200 school children in Ijegun, Ikotun, a suburb of Lagos that such a culture would help the society to avoid environmental degradation.
She was hosted by Holy Family School with supports from Prevailer Schools, Alex High School and Rising Star Nursery and Primary School in Ijegun, a Lagos suburb.
Some of the parents of the pupils, traders and artisans were also in attendance to grace the occasion.
Miss Nigeria alongside the pupils participated in a road carnival accompanied by drumming; dancing and the waving of the Nigerian flags.
The beauty queen said children would also be supporting government’s policy on healthy living for the citizens by disposing their wastes at approved dumpsites.
Obiadi said that she embarked on this sensitization because it was in agreement with her pet project titled, “The green girl project”.
“My project aims at promoting and caring for the environment; as well as educating people on how to keep their surroundings clean.’’
She said that environmental degradation was a major challenge facing the society, adding society should check it to avoid the situation from degenerating further.
“We need to guard our environment from erosion by disposing our refuse appropriately instead of throwing them into the gutters and on road sides.
“When our children become conscious of proper waste disposal, there will be more sanity in the society.
“Children generate more wastes than adults from biscuits, sweets, water sachet and variety of snacks they consume,” she said.
Miss Nigeria said that parents and governments should provide trash bins in their homes and public places for wastes.
“One trash bin can serve as recyclable wastes that may be sold to earn some money while the other for disposable ones,” she said.
The 300-level student of Geography and Meteorology, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, also advised pupils to form the habit of disposing their wastes at approved dumpsites instead of littering them in the streets.
“We need to form the habit of keeping our wastes especially when there are no waste bins close by until we find one to curb the indiscriminate littering of the environment,” she said.
She said that ignorance of proper waste disposal could cause more damage to children as their movements to school would be disrupted by bad roads, erosion and flood.
The 22-year-old beauty queen said she her visit to Ijegun was to identify with their situation and encouraged them on proper environmental sanitation.
“I want everyone to cooperate in caring for their environment because every bad environment is often caused by neglect and ignorance of proper waste disposal.
“We can change our attitudes today,” she said.
Obiadi then appealed to the pupils of schools visited to relate her message to their peers in other schools and their parents so that the nation’s environment would be salvaged from further degradation.
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