By Paul Williams
Non-governmental organisation, Quest for Growth and Development Foundation has taken the campaign for an end to plastic pollution to schools and markets in Rivers State.
This was as the globe celebrated the World Environment Day on June 5, 2025, with the theme: ‘Ending Plastic Pollution.’
Coordinator of Quest for Growth and Development Foundation, Smith Nwokocha, while sensitizing traders at Rumuodomaya market, in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, pointed out that plastics, such as cellophane wrappers, are in common use in the market.
He said, “If you look around, you’ll see plastic all over the market. We are here to sensitize the women on managing their plastics since they deal with them a lot.
“Our message is that instead of throwing plastic around, littering the environment, we can recycle it. The traders can gather it, bag it, and give it to a recycling factory,” he said.
Nwokocha said the management of plastics is central to the theme of this year’s World Environment Day, which is ending plastic pollution.
He noted the extent of plastic pollution in the state, adding the situation “requires that we put all hands on deck, holding government, multinationals, manufacturers, even community members accountable.”
The campaign moved to the Community Secondary School at Rumuodomaya, where Nwokocha pointed out to the students “how popular plastic is in our environment.
“The water we drink, they bottle in plastic. Our soft drinks, everything we do is plastic. These plastics find their way to our drainage system, even in the ocean and shores of the ocean,” he said.
Nwokocha pointed out that the quantity of plastics in the ocean and other water bodies means that eating fish caught from these have become dangerous to the human body.
He said, “It’s plastic you eat at the end of the day because those fish eat plastic, you know. The whole plastic pollution all over the world is something that is affecting our health and environment.
“That is why we are advocating that we should by all means end plastic pollution. We are also calling on multinationals and policymakers, government, young people, students, community members, community leaders, religious leaders and all to ensure that they add their efforts to end plastic pollution,” Nwokocha said.
Experts say plastic pollution has contributed to the reduction in life expectancy in the Niger Delta.
A trader at the market, Mercy Chijindu Okenwa, expressed gratitude to Quest for the awareness talk, and urged her co-traders to ensure “we always keep our environment neat.”
While at the community school, SS2 student, Ordu Godwin Ugochi. said she was very excited “because they (Quest) have taught us how we can be able to recycle our plastic waste. I have learned how to manage my plastic waste. So I will not be throwing them away.”
His school mate, Samuel Sandikam, emphasized Nwokocha’s call for the students to teach others about managing their plastic waste, and the need to reduce, if not eliminate, the burning of waste products.
