France gives N500 million to five Nigerian varsities to fight plastic pollution

The French government has donated more than N500 million to five tertiary institutions in Nigeria to combat plastic pollution.

In June, the French Embassy launched a plastic waste management project worth €753,000 to help universities across Nigeria develop innovative, adaptive, and sustainable project ideas addressing plastic pollution.

On Wednesday, five tertiary institutions in Nigeria were awarded for fighting plastic pollution on campus.

The institutions include the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) in Osun, Yaba College of Technology (YabaTech) in Lagos, the Alex Ekwueme Funai University in Ebonyi, the University of Calabar, and the University of Delta.

Thierry Valentin, the head of cooperation and cultural affairs in the French embassy, said the five institutions have been awarded over N500 million to encourage young Nigerian researchers to develop innovative ideas for a safer environment.

He said the project to combat plastic pollution in Nigeria, tagged the French Embassy Fund (FEF), was part of the French government’s global effort to encourage proper plastic waste management.

Valentin spoke at the official inauguration of the FEF Waste Management in Nigerian Campuses Project in Abuja.

He said the idea was to show the global community that the world could rid its environment of plastic waste with little or no financial resources.

“We had a lot of good projects but these five have been selected because they are scientific and result-oriented. We want to face the huge question of plastic pollution here in Nigeria; the wish is to show with a few examples that it can work,” he said.

Valentin described the project as revolutionary, adding that it would not only benefit the university communities but all the areas where such an initiative was being implemented.

Chris Maiyaki, the executive secretary of the Nigerian Universities Commission (NUC), said the projects would address the perceived impression of a decline in the intellectual space affecting Nigerian universities and Nigerian graduates.

“It is a game-changing opportunity to have the French support research along the specifics of plastic waste disposal,” he added.