By Tobias Lengnan Dapam
Worried by the challenges posed by climate change in Nigeria, the SOS Children’s Villages Nigeria, deployed various machineries to communities in Calabar, Ibadan and Lagos states.
These initiatives were meant to address challenges of climate change and transform the lives of people and provide solutions to challenges in those communities.
Speaking recently during a high level media workshop in Lagos, David Tochukwu Gabriel, National Coordinator, Eco Champions project, said the project was inspired by SOS Children’s Villages Nigeria which believe in the development of youths, providing the required support and platform for them to thrive and contribute meaningfully in the resilience, adaptation and development of their communities.
“By building their capacity, through one-on-one coaching and mentoring sessions, trainings, linkages to key national and international networks and platforms/forums SOS Children’s Villages Nigeria is contributing to their ability to successfully implement their initiatives, influence their peers and community members while amplifying their voices in decision making processes/forums.”
CALABAR
In Calabar, the Eco Sustainable Future (ESUF) founded by Benita Obot empowered school children and adolescents with climate education and waste management skills.
The initiative combines capacity-strengthening workshops with engaging educational materials to equip young people with the tools they need to combat climate change.
The programme which was launched in January 2025, trained its youth volunteers in April 2025, and its capacity-strengthening workshops are being implemented between September and November 2025.
She said, with approval from the Ministry of Education and support by a Sparkfunding grant from SOS Children’s Villages Nigeria, ESUF is working with six schools in Calabar South and Calabar Municipal.
She listed the schools to include; Edgerly Memorial Girls Secondary School, Margaret Ekpo Secondary School and Nuevas Fronteras Schools.
Others are; Government Secondary School, Akim, Uwanse Secondary School and Government Secondary School, Barracks Road.
“As part of the initiative, 300 playbooks have been produced and will be distributed to students as reference materials to reinforce essential climate concepts and practical waste management skills.
“By the end of this phase, students will gain hands-on (Trash to treasure) skills to: Create reusable bags from old materials, reducing dependence on single-use plastics, Produce pouffe stools from plastic bottles! Practice paper recycling, Make reusable menstrual pads, promoting girls’ inclusion in climate action, Establishment/Strengthening of climate clubs to sustain engagements.
She said these activities will foster community-wide behavioural change, spreading from students to peers, parents, neighbours, and the broader community.
“Beyond the classrooms, ESUF has actively raised awareness through: World Earth Day(April 22, 2025) cleanup drive, mobilizing volunteers and youths to collect plastic waste for upcycling and to spark community discussions on sustainable practices.
“A radio engagement on HitFm Calabar (95.9), featured on The Bridge Leadership Radio Show during World Environment Day (June 5, 2025), where the team reached over 1,000 people with climate awareness messages on the theme “Ending Plastic Pollution.”
“Social media challenges and online engagements, designed to inspire eco-friendly actions and spread climate awareness to a wider digital audience.
“We are driven by the passion to engage young people because they suffer the most from climate change resulting in academic disruption, malnutrition, health, and developmental challenges, despite contributing least to this crisis.”
“ESUF calls on individuals and organizations to support eco-friendly practices: donate cotton materials for upcycling, support production more educational materials for greater reach, and commit to reducing plastic waste in daily life.”
IBADAN
In Ibadan, the idea which thrived on EcoSmart Club focused on equipping young people in Nigeria to build green skills and lead climate action while inspring them to pursue green careers.
Hannah Omokhaye, the Eco Champion in the state, said they established gender-responsive school-based environmental clubs in secondary schools, organising teachers training, and implementing climate action projects. “In addition, we also work with young people with disabilities to organise for climate action and prepare for climate disasters.
“In the past 3 years, we have trained over 5000 secondary students on climate change, created a curriculum for club activities, trained over 60 teachers on green skills and incorporating sustainability into their teaching. We also donated 9 recycling bins to schools that has recycled over 1000 recycling bins and trained over 200 young people with disabilities on climate justice and climate disaster preparedness.
Project End Waste in Ibadan
She said the EcoSmart Club started as a clean-up initiative in Odo-Ona, Ibadan South West, Oyo State, bringing community members together to clear waste and restore their environment.
“My motivation was deeply personal. In 2011, my family lost nearly everything in a devastating flood worsened by poor waste disposal practices. Growing up in Odo-Ona, waste management was a constant challenge. With no proper system in place, creating landfills at our backyards was the only option, and as the first child, I often bore that responsibility.
“These experiences shaped my passion to address waste pollution. Through our project, End Waste in Odo-Ona in 2022, I organized a sensitization session that engaged 50 community members on food waste and proper waste disposal. We followed this with a community-wide clean-up, where over 100 residents mobilized each other to clear their waste. In just two hours, we had filled an overloaded truck over one ton of waste in partnership with LoadBrown Recycling. We also donated recycling bins to the community.”
Ecosmart Clubs
With these achievements and active participation of the children in the clean up, “we decided to start educating students in schools around odo-ona community about climate change and environmental issues. In our pilot stage, we established clubs in 4 schools which reached over 3000 schools. We promoted recycling by giving the schools recycling bins and recovered over 300KG of PET bottles.
Teachers Training
To further broaden the the project beyond students, she said they saw the need to equip teachers on environmental issues, exploring other employment opportunities.
“The global transition to sustainability presents a significant opportunity to address unemployment in Nigeria. For instance, Nigeria’s Energy Transition Plan (2022) projected the creation of over 840,000 green jobs by 2060”.
But despite these potentials, there remains a critical skills gap.
According to LinkedIn’s Global Green Skills Report, demand for green talent is growing twice as fast as supply. Yet, 77% of young people say they lack the practical skills needed to access green jobs. Compounding this challenge, only one in eight education systems worldwide explicitly include climate change in their curricula, while Nigeria’s education policy still lacks structured green skills training in secondary schools.
She said students need more than just theoretical knowledge; “they need climate awareness, critical thinking, and eco-innovation skills to thrive in tomorrow’s economy.”
With the support from SOS Children’s villages’ she said EcoChampions program got funding and conducted green skills workshop for 52 teachers from 28 schools, across Ibadan South West, Ibadan North and Ibadan South East Local Governments.
“A key goal of the workshop was to equip teachers with the tools and knowledge to establish environmental clubs in their school clubs that will serve as platforms for students to develop practical green skills and lead climate action. During the workshop, we also provided schools with 5 recycling bins and 5 upcycling kits.
“Since the training, teachers have now created 15 school clubs, recycled nearly 400 KG of PET bottles from 5 schools and conducted ottoman upcycling practicals.”
EcoSmart Club Special
With the success of teachers workshops, she said the group targeted People Living with Disabilities, to engage them on the way out of the climate challenges beclouding the society.
“I noticed that many climate initiatives barely conduct school outreaches to special schools, but they are usually the most affected groups when climate disasters happens. In addition, we lose the unique contributions they can bring into climate action when they are not included in climate action.
For the first time in November 2023, our club conducted climate justice education sessions at Ibadan Schools for the deaf and Methodist Grammar School, deaf unit, both located in Ibadan North Local Government, Oyo state.
“We trained participants on climate justice and how to become advocates. In addition, we also had practical upcycling session where participants learnt how to convert pet bottles to art works, chairs and also converted discarded tyres to sit outs. At the end of this project, we successfully created the first EcoSmart Club for special people.”
LAGOS
In Lagos state, the Project Green-also focused on teaching children various skills.
The Eco champions visited 7 Junior and Senior Secondary schools under the Education District VI in Lagos State from 2nd June, 2025 – 21st June, 2025.
“ We engaged various children in a workshop aimed at strengthening the Environmental Bee Clubs in the schools.
“We had discussions on different climate topics such as waste management, pollution, flooding, climate justice, green jobs and an interactive session on the various sustainability practices that young climate champions should engage in, so as to make the world a better place.
While urging the media to publicize their activities in the country, the Country Director of SOS Children’s Villages Nigeria, Mr. Eghosa Erhumwunse, urged media practitioners and senior executives to play a vital role in shaping public discourse and influencing policy decisions.
“As much as this is called a workshop, it is more of a round table discussion to learn and brainstorm on the best ways and approaches to effectively report on climate change issues, amplify the conversation, and drive meaningful action.
“I would like to particularly acknowledge the presence and participation of our young climate actors, Eco Champions who are already making a significant impact in this space. Your energy, creativity, and passion are crucial in driving the climate agenda forward. We recognize that climate change is not just an environmental issue, but also a social justice issue that disproportionately affects young people and future generations.
“In this room we will engage in insightful discussions, share best practices, and explore innovative storytelling approaches to climate change reporting. We will also highlight the importance of intergenerational collaboration, youth-led initiatives, and inclusive climate policies that prioritize the needs and perspectives of young people.
“I encourage you all to lend your expertise and learnings to our young climate leaders, and to work together to create a more sustainable and equitable future for all. Let us harness the power of media to drive climate action, and to ensure that the voices of young people are heard and valued in this critical conversation.”
