Meet Doyinsola Ogunye: Nigeria’s young radical environmentalist

Since 2009, Doyinsola Ogunye has been treading a rare path, cleaning the environment. Her social media pages are filled with the mantra, “clean up!’”. From going to the dirtiest beach in Lagos to pick bottle tops, to educating members of the environs about the need to clean up their environment, Doyinsola’s message has been consistent for the past nine years.

In a country where not many citizens pay attention to the environment, Doyinsola stands out for her remarkable work. Unlike countries such as Kenya and Rwanda where plastic bags have been banned as part of efforts to protect the environment, and to reduce unnecessary waste, Nigeria stands in contrast with its lacklustre attitude to implement laws towards protecting the environment.

Doyinsola is founder of the Mental and Environmental Development Initiative for Children (MEDIC) under which initiatives such as Kids Clean Club, Kids Beach Garden and Kids 4 Clean Seas were started. The initiatives ventured into teaching young children about the importance of taking care of the environment.  MEDIC aims to “help build a cleaner and united world where children are the purifiers and the spear-head of the revolution,” according to the organisation’s website.

Read: DRC ex-child soldier and park ranger Rodrigue Katembo wins Goldman Environmental Prize

The organisation believes the involvement of young people is fundamental saying, “we are poised to instil in every child, the trait of global cleanliness, global safety and patriotism and to reach every home, school, and the religious institution through the children.”

Read: Commemorating World Environmental Day: Are You With Nature?

In July 2009, Doyinsola, a law graduate from the University of Lagos joined the then Governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Fashola on a tree planting exercise. She also spearheaded the creation of Nigeria’s first ever Kids’ Garden (a haven for kids to mix and learn while having fun), the first ever recycling awareness day events, which occurred on August 20 and October 1, 2011 in Lekki and VGC, Lagos, respectively in collaboration with the Lagos Waste Management Authority.

Currently, Doyinsola is participating in the #SimpleChangeBigImpact challenge organised by Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB). Her project idea involves recycling bottle tops to create sand castle building materials and toys for underprivileged children living in coastal communities.

She has fervently fought for the ban of nylon bags, advocating for the use of paper bags. If there is a sector that Nigeria pays little attention to, it’s the environment. It is encouraging that young activists such as Doyinsola are doing a lot to protect the environment.

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