Professor Bamidele Iromidayo Olu-Owolabi, a professor of analytical/environmental chemistry, has charged all Nigerians with improving the quality of the environment.
She was charged with delivering the 575th Inaugural Lecture of the University of Ibadan on behalf of the Faculty of Science.
Professor Olu-Owolabi asserted that environmental pollution poses a significant threat to our society and is among the world’s most pressing issues.
She said her research showed that due to poor compliance enforcement and monitoring, domestic and untreated industrial effluents are discharged directly or indirectly into city canals, thus rendering their vegetation unsuitable for human consumption.
However, she noted that as long as humans continue polluting the environment, efforts to remove them will continue because new classes of pollutants will continue to emerge.
Therefore, she charged Nigerians to stop complaining about the polluted environment and begin taking steps to make it safer.
Professor Olu-Owolabi recommended that we should embrace eco-friendly choices, promote recycling at the household level, sort and manage waste effectively, and drive community awareness.
She stated that law enforcement agencies, especially the Ministry of Environment, should enforce environmental laws.
The lecture’s title was “Towards A Safer Environment: The Voyage of A Chemist.”
The Inaugural Lecture was the twenty-fifth in the 2023/2024 academic session series.
