Ekiti Students Lead Cleanup Drive, Push Responsible Waste Disposal and Tree Planting

Students from tertiary institutions across Ekiti State have taken environmental advocacy beyond their campuses, bringing a campaign against indiscriminate waste disposal directly to markets, streets and communities in Ado-Ekiti.
The initiative, tagged “Keep Ekiti Clean, Keep Ekiti Green,” brought young people together to encourage residents to adopt better waste-disposal habits, protect vegetation and plant more trees.
The campaign was organised as part of activities marking World Cleanup Day 2026 under the Ekiti Students Skill Up with YOMA Initiative.
It received support from UNICEF through a partnership involving the Ekiti State Government and Generation Unlimited 9ja.
Rather than limiting the exercise to collecting litter, organisers focused heavily on changing everyday behaviour.
Students spoke with market women, commercial motorcycle riders, community leaders and other residents about the environmental consequences of indiscriminate dumping and the role individuals can play in keeping public spaces clean.
Students take environmental message into communities
Participants came from six tertiary institutions across Ekiti State.
They included students from Ekiti State University, Federal University Oye-Ekiti, Bamidele Olumilua University of Education, Science and Technology in Ikere-Ekiti, Federal College of Education in Iyin-Ekiti, Federal Polytechnic Ado-Ekiti and Ekiti State Polytechnic in Isan-Ekiti.
Bringing students from several institutions together was intended to demonstrate the role young people can play in solving community problems rather than waiting for government alone to act.
Project Lead Modupe Adetiba said environmental protection must be viewed as a shared responsibility.
Her message to residents was straightforward: keeping communities clean cannot be treated as the responsibility of government sanitation workers alone.
Residents themselves have a role in deciding where their waste ends up, how vegetation is treated and whether communities remain healthy.
The campaign encouraged people to avoid throwing refuse into roads, gutters and other inappropriate locations.
Residents were also encouraged to replace trees when they are cut down and make tree planting a normal part of environmental responsibility.
Waste disposal affects more than appearance
Poor waste management can create problems far beyond making a neighbourhood look untidy.
Waste dumped into drainage channels can obstruct the movement of water.
During periods of heavy rainfall, blocked drains can contribute to flooding and damage roads, homes and businesses.
Uncontrolled waste can also create unhealthy environments by attracting pests and exposing communities to polluted water and other sanitation problems.
That is why organisers linked the campaign not only to cleanliness but also to public health and climate awareness.
Student participant Favour Anjorin said environmental sanitation could help communities reduce challenges connected with erosion and flooding.
Another participant, Joel Oluwadunsin, said educating residents about pollution and tree planting was also important for creating healthier living conditions.
Tree planting becomes part of the message
The campaign also placed considerable emphasis on protecting trees.
Trees can help reduce soil erosion, provide shade and support local ecosystems.
Vegetation can also play a role in managing heat in built-up communities and absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
Organisers therefore asked residents not to treat tree planting as an activity reserved for government projects or environmental organisations.
Their message was that individuals, schools, businesses and communities can all contribute.
Residents who remove trees were particularly encouraged to consider replacing them rather than allowing vegetation to disappear permanently.
Government says community participation matters
A representative of the Ekiti State Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, Olasehinde Oloniyo, said the environmental campaign fits into the wider objectives of the Ekiti Students Skill Up initiative.
The programme focuses primarily on youth development, leadership and capacity building.
It is designed to give young people skills and opportunities that can improve employability while also encouraging greater involvement in their communities.
According to Oloniyo, the environmental component is important because the health and wellbeing of communities are closely connected to the condition of their surroundings.
He encouraged residents to support government efforts by disposing of waste properly, planting trees and protecting existing vegetation.
Ekiti has been expanding its environmental message
The student campaign comes as the Ekiti State Government continues to emphasise climate action and environmental protection.
During World Environment Day in June, the state government said it was pursuing policies, partnerships and community engagement aimed at creating a cleaner and more sustainable environment.
The government has argued that climate and environmental challenges cannot be addressed successfully by government institutions acting alone.
That position closely mirrors the message being taken into communities by the students.
Environmental laws and sanitation exercises can discourage harmful behaviour, but long-term improvement also depends on what residents do between official cleanup exercises.
A street that is cleaned today can quickly become filled with waste again if people continue dumping refuse there.
That makes behaviour change one of the most difficult parts of environmental sanitation.
Young people as community problem-solvers
The campaign also highlights a broader role for students outside traditional academic activities.
Universities and polytechnics often have large populations of young people who can mobilise volunteers, share information and influence behaviour within surrounding communities.
Programmes such as YOMA — the Youth Agency Marketplace — are designed partly around helping young people develop skills while connecting them with opportunities and social-impact initiatives.
In Ekiti, students involved in the cleanup campaign are using that model to address environmental problems directly.
Instead of presenting young people only as beneficiaries of government and development programmes, the initiative places them in the role of organisers and community advocates.
Cleanup campaigns need consistency
A single environmental campaign will not solve Ekiti's waste-management challenges.
Maintaining cleaner communities requires reliable waste collection, accessible disposal points, public education and enforcement against illegal dumping.
Businesses and households also need practical alternatives to dumping waste in open spaces.
But awareness campaigns can help address one part of that problem: public behaviour.
When residents understand what happens after waste is thrown into a gutter, drainage channel or empty plot, they may be more likely to change how they dispose of it.
The effectiveness of campaigns such as “Keep Ekiti Clean, Keep Ekiti Green” will therefore depend partly on whether the message continues after World Cleanup Day.
Schools, markets, community associations, local governments and environmental agencies can all play a role in keeping the campaign active.
A simple message with a wider goal
At the centre of the student campaign is a simple idea.
Cleaner communities are easier to achieve when residents see environmental protection as something they participate in rather than a service government provides for them.
For the students involved, picking up waste is only part of the objective.
The larger goal is to encourage a culture in which people think about where their refuse goes, protect their surroundings and recognise that everyday decisions can contribute either to environmental problems or to their solution.
If that attitude becomes more common, the impact of the campaign could last much longer than the cleanup exercise itself.