Nigerian Recycling Company Wins 2014 Sustainability Award

Climate change has been a much-discussed topic around the world for a number of years now. In recent times, it seems there has been a concerted effort by the majority of nations to lessen the negative impact made on the planet’s natural resources. Recycling is now an everyday part of life for many citizens around the globe. There are many hi-tech innovations in place in terms of recycling solutions. However, it is often the simplest ideas which turn out to be the most successful.

The city of Lagos in Nigeria has never been traditionally thought of as a major recycler. Indeed, until recently the city was undergoing problems in other related areas too, namely in the collection of household waste. It has been estimated that, of all of the cumulated household waste in Lagos, only 40% is ever collected. The remainder is left to pile up in the streets.

An Innovative Solution to the Problem of Waste

The solution to this major problem has been refreshingly simple and, so far, exceedingly successful. Recycling company Wecyclers gives families living in the low-income communities of Lagos the opportunity of earning from their household waste collections. The company sends out a fleet of cargo bicycles into the communities to collect waste, which is then sent for recycling. By using a points-based system, Lagos households can exchange their household waste, such as plastic bottles, plastic bags and food cans, for various consumer goods. The use of bicycles to collect the waste also ensures that the air is not further polluted by vehicle exhaust fumes.

After sorting through the collections, Wecyclers then sell the waste on to companies who recycle it into various products such as bin bags, mattresses and pillows. Up to October 2014, over 5,000 households in Lagos had signed up to the Wecyclers collection program. The undoubted success has led to plans to expand the scheme to other cities in Nigeria.

Rewarded for Efforts in Sustainability

On November 10th 2014, Wecyclers were rewarded for their efforts when they were named as the winners of the Sustainia Award. Based in Copenhagen, Denmark, Sustainia is a consultancy which champions sustainability around the world. Chaired by film legend Arnold Schwarzenegger, the 2014 Sustainia Awards celebrated ten innovative sustainable solutions employed in nations across the globe. However, after learning of the simple but effective solution employed by Wecyclers to the very real problems of waste management in Lagos, the committee were unanimous in choosing the Nigerian company as their main award winner.

With their innovative waste collection scheme in Lagos, Wecyclers have shown that sustainability solutions do not necessarily have to be hi-tech to prove successful. By involving the local community in the scheme. Wecyclers have also given a sense of purpose to the poorer citizens of the city, in addition to offering them the chance of earning from their efforts. It is a winning situation for all concerned and a much-needed boost for the environment.

Nigerian City of Port Harcourt Celebrates Literary Recognition

Organised by the Rainbow Book Club, the annual Port Harcourt Book Festival is one of the most important events of its type in Africa. First held back in 2008, the 2014 festival had extra significance attached to it; not only was the nation of Nigeria celebrating its 100th birthday in 2014, but the city of Port Harcourt was also chosen as the year’s UNESCO World Book Capital.

A Stellar Panel of Guest Writers

When it was first held in 2008, the Port Harcourt Book Festival was known as the Garden City Literary Festival. The name was recently changed to further promote the city of Port Harcourt as one of the world’s premier destinations for all things literary. Although it may have changed its name, the Port Harcourt Book Festival remains one of the most significant on the African literary calendar. The guest list at previous events has included a veritable treasure trove of important figures in Nigerian and African literature. These include such luminaries as the Nobel Laureate Wole Siyinka from Nigeria, Ghana’s Kofi Awonoor and the American writer Petrina Crockford. Siyinka was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1986, the very first African writer to ever be awarded this prestigious honour. International dignitaries who have graced past events include the Reverend Jesse Jackson from the United States. With the 2014 edition of the event coinciding with Port Harcourt being chosen as the World Book Capital, organisers were intent on producing a stellar line-up of guests to befit such an important occasion.

Writers in attendance at the 2014 Port Harcourt Book Festival, which ran from October 20th to October 25th, included renowned Jamaican journalist Lindsay Barrett, playwright and television producer Adiela Onyediba and Nigerian poet Dr. Obari Gomba. Although born in Jamaica, journalist, poet and essayist Barrett has lived in Nigeria for almost forty years. He, along with the other writers mentioned here, was a speaker and mentor at the festival’s residency programme. The three-week writers' residency programme was held on the outskirts of Port Harcourt at Songhai Farms. Although a huge number of aspiring writers applied to be a part of the residency, due to the high regard that the Port Harcourt Book Festival is held in, only twelve were eventually chosen. It is hoped that the work produced by these writers at the residency, based on the aspiring theme of Books: Windows to Our World of Possibilities, will be published in a special anthology.

Port Harcourt - World Book Capital 2014

 
The success of the annual Port Harcourt Book Festival, since the very first event in 2008, has certainly been a major factor in the Nigerian city being bestowed with the great honour of World Book Capital for 2014. Each year since 2001, UNESCO have chosen a different city from around the globe as the World Book Capital. To be nominated for the honour, each city has to meet certain criteria, including overall levels of reading participation, promotion of books and reading and freedom of literary expression. Port Harcourt is only the second African city, after Alexandria in Egypt, to be chosen as a World Book Capital. In April 2015, Port Harcourt will hand over the baton to the city of Incheon in South Korea. The Nigerian city will certainly be looking to sustain the momentum gained by its year as World Book Capital and continue to be recognised as one of the premier destinations for literature not just in Africa but across the globe.

Planning for the Future

Despite the Book Festival helping Port Harcourt’s cause immensely, it was not the only reason that UNESCO deciding to bestow the 2014 honour on the Rivers State city. Port Harcourt has a long-standing commitment to promoting literary culture amongst the city’s youth. By focusing a fair proportion of their efforts on the younger inhabitants of Port Harcourt, officials are hoping to raise literacy rates not just in the city itself but across Nigeria too. The culture of books in Port Harcourt has always been an important part of life. By continuing to promote this culture amongst the city’s youth, the future of Nigeria’s literary art looks assured.