A Professor of Analytical/Environmental Chemistry, Professor Bamidele Iromidayo Olu-Owolabi, has charged all Nigerians to be involved in improving the quality of the environment.
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She gave the charge while delivering the
575th Inaugural Lecture of the University of Ibadan on behalf of the Faculty of Science.
Professor Olu-Owolabi said pollution of our environment is the bane of our society and one of the biggest problems facing our world.
She 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.
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She, 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 that we should all stop complaining about our environment but begin to do things to make our environment a safer place.
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Professor Olu-Owolabi recommended that we should embrace Eco-Friendly choices; promote recycling at the household level; sort and manage wastes effectively; and drive community awareness.
She stated that, above all, law enforcement agencies, especially the Ministry of Environment, should enforce environmental laws.
The title of the lecture was “Towards A Safer Environment: The Voyage of A Chemist”
The Inaugural Lecture was the twenty-fifth in the series for the 2023/2024 academic session.
