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Up to 5,000 volunteers are expected to turn out to help clean up Nigeria’s beaches and waterways in three towns on 16 September to mark an annual environmental event held in 74 countries around the world, PANA reported on Wednesday.
The 2000 International Coastal Clean-Up is overseen by the Washington-based Centre for Marine Conservation. This year’s activities are expected to attract more than half a million volunteers around the world. In Nigeria, the clean-up is to be organised by the News Agency of Nigeria and the Nigerian Institute for Oceanography and Marine Research, focusing on Lagos, Eket and Port Harcourt.
Ene Baba-Owoh, executive chairman of Clean-up Nigeria, said for many years oceans have been a dumping ground for human debris. “Most of these originate from the inland waterways which include lagoons, streams, rivers, lakes and other drainage channels, all of which find their way eventually to the ocean itself,” PANA quoted him as saying.
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