Get Guardian on GoogleThe shortage of suitable classroom furniture in public schools and the environmental burden of discarded tyres have prompted a sustainability initiative in Lagos, with 100 chairs made from recycled tyres donated to five schools in Education District VI.
The chairs were distributed among the five schools, with Ewutuntun Junior Grammar School and Igboowu Junior Secondary School, Mushin, receiving 44 each, while Oregun Senior Grammar School, Omole Senior School and Ajumoni Senior Secondary School received four each.
The initiative was supported by Exinity Group through its flagship brand, FXTM.
Speaking at the launch, a representative of the Lagos State Education District VI Tutor-General/Permanent Secretary, Mrs Folashade Osiyemi, said inadequate classroom furniture could affect pupils’ comfort, concentration and participation in lessons.
She noted that children struggling with broken chairs or sitting without adequate furniture might remember the discomfort of their learning environment more than what they were taught, stressing that conducive classrooms were essential to effective teaching and learning.
Osiyemi urged school principals and teachers to ensure proper maintenance of the donated furniture, warning that poor handling could undermine the long-term benefits of the intervention.
She added that the use of recycled materials also offered pupils practical lessons in environmental responsibility, resource conservation and the possibilities of converting waste into useful products.
The foundation’s founder, Olubukoka Bamiduro, represented by Lydia Adewunmi, said the project emerged from observations of furniture shortages in public schools and the need to find an environmentally responsible way of addressing the problem.
According to her, the foundation decided to explore how discarded materials could be repurposed to meet an immediate educational need, rather than simply introduce another school donation programme.
An FXTM representative, Kelechi Ehibudu, said the partnership was motivated by the importance of providing children with comfortable learning environments and reducing the environmental consequences of improperly discarded tyres.
He explained that rainwater trapped in abandoned tyres could provide breeding grounds for mosquitoes, contributing to malaria transmission, while the initiative offered an opportunity to retrieve the materials and give them a second life.
Ehibudu said the donation was an initial intervention, adding that the organisation was willing to explore other ways of supporting infrastructure development in schools.
In his keynote address, an environmental advocate and Executive Director of The Fashion House, Alex Akhigbe, said society needed to reconsider its perception of waste, arguing that materials discarded by one person could become valuable resources to another.
