News Agency of Nigeria reports
The Swedish Ambassador to Nigeria, Carl Michael Gräns, mobilised people to pick up trash in Abuja on Saturday, in commemoration of the World Cleanup Day.
Gräns, while addressing newsmen at the sideline of activities, said the event was organised in partnership with PickThatTrash, Green with Grin, Rotaract, Rees Africa and GirlUp Nigeria, Eco Green Africa, C-Circle Research supported by the Federal Ministry of Environment, the News Agency of Nigeria reports.
He noted that the theme of the 2021World Cleanup Day, Plogging, was derived from two Swedish verbs — ‘plocka upp’, which means to pick up, and ‘jogga’, which means to ‘jog’.
He said, “Plogging is a movement all over the world to exercise and to pack the trash in the environment. This has become important because the environment is one of the main challenges of our time.
“The environment is where we are, but at the same time, the change of climate goes together. So, raising awareness about the issue is one of the top priorities of the Swedish embassy.
“This is an international challenge and we have to find a global solution to it. We all know the urgency of these as we have the United Nations’ report to see that some climatic changes are not hard to stop.”
Gräns noted that there was a need to proffer a lasting green solution to environmental challenges.
The Co-Founder, Abuja Run Club, Uwak Ekanem, said the Plogging initiative was apt in helping people to keep fit and maintain environmental hygiene.
He said, “We have always liked to give back to society. We felt this is a good time to give back to our environment and, as well, pick up trash where people normally use all the time, particularly for sports.
“We thought trash there was not much, but what was collated here proved we can do so much; if we want change, we want change where we use all the time.
“It is up to Nigerians to pick up non-disposable products, like plastics and polythene bags for recycling.”
NAN reports that the event attracted 150 people to jog and pick up trash around the main bowl of the Moshood Abiola National Stadium Abuja, where 51 trash bags were collected, 14 bags containing plastics and trash cans were handed to Mission Zero Plastic to be recycled.
In the same vein, the Swedish Embassy partners, Plogging Nigeria, also hosted similar events in 14 other locations in Borno, Imo, Oyo, Kwara, Lagos, Kaduna, Osun, Enugu Ondo States and others.
World Cleanup Day aims to raise awareness about these issues and to mobilise all spheres of society to participate in environmental cleanup actions. (NAN)
