As Africa’s most populous nation and largest economies, Nigeria faces increasingly visible and alarming consequences of environmental crisis: rising temperatures, unpredictable rainfall patterns, devastating floods, and prolonged droughts in the Northern region, and waste mismanagement, among others.
According to a recent report by NESG, Nigeria produces approximately 2.5 million tonnes of plastic waste annually, ranking ninth globally among the highest contributors to plastic pollution. Alarmingly, over 88 percent of this plastic waste goes unrecycled.
Similarly, an estimated 110 million Nigerians lack access to safe drinking water, and only 26.5 percent of the population use improved water and sanitation facilities.
These are not just abstract statistics; these are real challenges that directly threaten food security, public health, child survival rates, and school attendance, especially in vulnerable communities.
Traditionally, conversations about the country’s environmental crisis often focus on rapid urbanisation, economic growth and inadequate waste-management infrastructure.
However, there is a deeper, often overlooked root cause: a pervasive lack of environmental awareness and education at the foundational and basic level.
It is crucial to recognise that Education is an essential element of the global response to environmental sustainability. It helps young people understand and address environmental issues, encourages changes in their attitudes and behaviour, and helps them adapt to climate change-related trends.
When environmental education is integrated into the curriculum, pupils are more enthusiastic and engaged in learning, which improves learner achievement in core academic areas.
As such, organisations such as UNESCO have set targets: to make environmental education a core curriculum component in all countries by 2025.
Many countries have also taken steps to integrate environmental education into their curricula. For example, Indonesia revised its national curriculum in 2013 to include climate change as a core subject for elementary students.
Similarly, South Africa’s education for sustainable development programme focuses on training teachers, providing learning materials, and building community capacity to promote environmental education.
Yet, despite over 43 percent of the Nigerians being under the age of 15, there is no standardised curriculum to teach children about the environment.
It is with this global momentum and urgency in mind that the foundation is committed to advancing environmental education in Nigeria.
How Oando Foundation is leading the way
The foundation’s LEARNOVATE strategy includes a key component, ‘PLANET,’ which focuses on promoting environmental education, green skills development, and sustainable waste management at the basic education level.
One of the initiatives under this component is the Clean Our World project, a flagship environmental education initiative to bridge the gap between education and climate action.
Implemented in partnership with Sumitomo Chemical and the Lagos State Universal Basic Education Board, the project trains teachers and education managers in the use of ‘edutainment’ methods, blending education with interactive, engaging formats, to make environmental learning accessible and exciting for pupils.
Environmental clubs have been established in schools, giving children hands-on experience with recycling, upcycling, composting, and gardening. Inter-school competitions further deepen their knowledge and foster healthy peer-driven advocacy.
Most significantly, Oando Foundation introduced a climate action syllabus with structured lesson plans across 1,020 public primary schools in Lagos State, with full-scale implementation in 70 schools across Lagos and Plateau States.
This curriculum development marks a critical step toward institutionalising environmental education in the public school system. To date, the Clean Our World project has impacted over 95,500 beneficiaries and trained over 435 education stakeholders to ensure effective delivery and use of the teaching materials and interactive learning tools.
These stakeholders include teachers, Local Government Education Authorities, and State Universal Basic Education Board officials. These educators have become critical agents of change, replicating the project’s goals and methodologies within their communities.
The programme supports young social innovators with funding, mentorship, and tools to scale context-driven solutions. These efforts are not standalone. Together, they reflect the foundation’s holistic approach to development, one that addresses systemic gaps in education while confronting the climate crisis head-on.
A collaborative future
As Nigeria commemorate World Environment Day 2025, the call to safeguard our planet has never been more urgent or more personal. We are at a critical juncture where the impacts of climate change are no longer distant threats, they are daily realities affecting how children learn, live, and thrive.
This moment demands collective action from governments, civil society, the private sector, educators, and communities, to equip young Nigerians with the knowledge and tools to champion climate action, drive sustainable change, and secure a healthier, greener future for all.
Oando Foundation believes this action begins in the classroom, with every lesson, every empowered teacher, and every child inspired to protect their environment. Because when children learn to care for their planet, they grow into adults who act to save it.
Uduimoh is the head of Oando Foundation
