 If you do not take care of the environment it will fight back in different forms, hence the need for all hands to be on deck to protect it. This advice came up during a clean up exercise at the Alfa beach in Lagos. Residents were charged on the need to ensure a clean environment and proper waste management which will go a long way to protecting not just the health of the earth but humans in general. Trash left on the beach is not just unattractive. It can wash back into the water and create safety hazards for visitors and aquatic life. For motions, the lakes, the rivers, organizing the beach clean up is a wonderful way to do good while also enjoying the beauty of the ocean. So for these volunteers the assignment is simple. If they clean up the beach they are preserved in their aquatic life and also the future generations. Nigeria is estimated to generate about 2.5 million tons of plastic waste annually. Plastic accounts for 15% of the total waste generated in Lagos state. O'Lakbeju Ibeque is passionate about the health of the environment. Health foundation is over time organized sensitization such as this to change the narrative of endangerment of the environment. Ibeque speaks on the dangers of plastic pollution as she hints that this clean up is holding simultaneously across 27 other states. We live at a time that it's getting increasingly scary that if we do not take care of the environment it's going to fight back and this is in different forms. Today we are at Alpha Beach and we've been reliably informed that just some time ago there was an ocean surge that really made residents to flee this area. This has been ongoing for a while. It is time for everyone to be intentional about protecting the environment. So what you are doing whenever you throw plastic away carelessly or do not manage plastic properly is that you are creating a hazard that can live well beyond your time. That is why it is important for us to manage our plastic properly. For the state government effective collaboration with relevant stakeholders is a sure way to go to sustaining the environment. Other stakeholders are unanimous that cleaning up of the environment including the beaches should be domesticated so it will not be an occasional habit. We know the challenges we have with our environment, waste management issues, pollution issues and the likes. Abuses, contraventions that has really put the entire society or environment in a big mess. So we cannot but collaborate from the ministry of environment. We cannot but collaborate with responsible agencies and bodies that are willing to come up with initiatives that will help us set the damages on the reverse. I think we need to make it culture, we need to make it a habit. First to stop littering the environment with all kinds of refuse and make it a point of duty to clean, to join the cleaning. Not only when we have special events and activity like this, but periodically because it is in the interest of everyone. We don't just do it one-off, we do it very consistently. I recall that sometimes this year we were also at the Elegushi beach and we had that very event which was also very colorful and we also cleaned up that beach. And this is one of so many of the auditions that is happening. Again, if you want to link into the entire global environmental impact of the importance across the SDG goals, this is one of the importance of cleaning our environment very clean. Through this regular clean-up exercise at the beach, Olapeju and her foundation have succeeded in reducing poverty and producing an alternative source of income for the women and the youths involved by picking up and selling plastic wastes. Justin Akademi, Plastic Abuse Lagos. News Updates.