Adenike Akinsemolu is a passionate environmental educator and author of numerous studies, which have appeared in reputable publications. Her passion for the environment propelled her to study Environmental Microbiology at doctoral level.
A former intern at Clinton Foundation, Adenike’s work and enthusiasm for youth and the environment has taken her all over the world. In order to make environmentalism a part of the everyday experience of Nigerians, Adenike started the Green Campus Initiative. This initiative began at the Adeyemi College Campus, a college of Obafemi Awolowo University, where she is a lecturer.
By creating Green ambassadors on college campuses across Nigeria, Adenike’s movement aims to positively impact the ways in which Nigerian youth incorporate green living into all elements of their lives – from riding bikes to taking shorter showers. In 2016, the Green Campus Initiative transitioned into the Green Institute, the first Nigerian research institution that subsidizes college tuition costs through a waste management program while training leaders that will systematically transform attitudes about environmentalism in Africa’s most populated and polluted country.
Additionally, Adenike founded the Girl Prize, which provides financial and mentorship support for young Nigerian secondary school girls with an interest in the sciences. She is currently an Associate Fellow of the Royal Commonwealth Society and a Robert Bosch Stiftung Young Researcher Awardee.
Adenike holds a masters and PhD in Environmental Microbiology. She advocated for the inclusion of green education and sustainability in the Nigerian academic curriculum. She is an Associate Fellow of the Royal Commonwealth Society and a member of the National Steering Committee of the Sustainable Energy Practitioners Association of Nigeria and a faculty member at Curators University. In 2015, Sahara Reporters did a documentary on her Green Journey.
“The Green Campus Initiative (GCI) tackles the challenges of climate change and environmental sustainability through innovative academic research, results-based green initiatives, and building a generation of environmentally conscious, socially conscious student leaders.” Adenike says.
The Green Institute is the first Nigerian research institution that subsidizes college tuition costs through a waste management program while training leaders that will systematically transform attitudes about environmentalism in Africa’s most populated and polluted country.
The institute offers both training and research, in line with some of the challenges listed in the Sustainable Development Goals. Their principal area of concentration is environmental sustainability, but they adopt both a micro and macro-level approach that encompasses relevant studies in the sciences, arts and social sciences. Their onsite campus is located in Ondo Kingdom, Nigeria.
Asked why she decided to establish the Green Institute and she responds “In one of my lectures, I asked my students what they understood by ‘Going Green’. Surprisingly, in a class of over 250 students, no-one could explain the idea of going green. About 98% of them simply had not heard about it before. When you ask an average Nigerian youth to participate in community service or volunteer their time in helping the underrepresented communities, they simply ask ‘What do I stand to gain?’ or ‘How does that put food on my table?’ You cannot totally blame them. It is the culture. I also noticed students discard their waste in classrooms and around the school environment.” Adenike says. She continues “Additionally, a lot of them do not have skills needed to survive upon graduation. How can we encourage students to live their life in such a way they do not harm themselves, the people around them and most importantly their environment? This question birthed the Green Campus Initiative. In the first 8 months of our green journey, nearly 150 university students from 28 universities have been trained with the goal to have a chapter of the Green Campus Initiative at each of Nigeria’s university campuses.”
When she is not raising the next generation of green leaders or scientists, she can be found spending time in nature and playing sports.
Kemi Ajumobi
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