In the Ajegunle area of Lagos, with its sprawling slums, children from poor homes who may otherwise be at risk of joining perilous gangs have found a renewed sense of purpose. With their parents, the children collect discarded plastic bottles and use them as a form of partial or complete payment of school fees, JOSEPHINE OGUNDEJI writes
Exhausted and worn down, Kemi Saheed finally arrived home that afternoon. She had just completed a gruelling four-hour journey to and from her residence in Ajegunle, a well-known slum community situated within the Ajeromi-Ifelodun Local Government Area of Lagos State. This highly populated area is inhabited by more than 550,000 residents from different parts of the country.
With a determined resolve, the 44-year-old relentlessly darted from one hotel to another, shop to shop, navigating numerous places, for a singular, heart-wrenching purpose – to amass plastic bottles.
For her, these bottles symbolised her lifeline to afford her children’s school fees and safeguard their education. Her sole target was to accrue a substantial stash before the bottles were retrieved by the recyclers, who diligently collected them in the morning.
Saheed had set out from her home at dawn last Monday, embarking on a quest to find plastic bottles. In this unconventional economy, education was the precious commodity, and plastic bottles were how she hoped to procure it.
“I feel like a trailer just ran over me,” she managed to utter before using her left hand to wipe off the sweat from her face gently.
“My firstborn was in school for a year because the former school she was in was sold, and we did not have money to pay for another school; hence, she had to stay at home that long to buy time. We eventually enrolled her in the kindergarten class at age five in Isrina Schools when we discovered we could pay the school fees with plastic bottles instead of cash. I also work as a nail technician, among other things, and the stress of the job took a toll on me. My children even helped collect plastic bottles.
“While returning from work, I pick enough bottles daily. We, as parents, are required to pick a minimum of seven sacks of plastic bottles and more to offset the fees. If we cannot pay, the proprietor’s parents (Mr Israel & Mrs Ifeaka Amuzie) come to our aid by helping us pick and provide basic needs like books, pens, uniforms, and even feed the children, among others. In addition, my children’s father does not contribute anything to the children’s education or the family.”
Expressing her distress, she added, “Even the wooden house we live in, for which we pay N150,000, we’ve been asked to leave because we can no longer afford it.”
Like Saheed, several residents of Ajegunle have learnt to endure such energy-sapping walks, viewing them as a necessary means to secure their children’s future.
Similarly, a 51-year-old woman of six children, Patience Onwuka, said two of her children recently graduated from Isrina Schools, leaving behind a two-year-old, the lastborn of the family.
She said, “When I started in this school, I did not have any money anywhere; the proprietor’s mother helped me because my children were home for a while and could not go to school till I got informed on how plastics could be used to pay school fees instead of cash. Also, I had to use cans to buy stationerery. My husband stays with me. However, I am the breadwinner of the family.
“I have been the one trying to sustain my family; even when I see where they are having a party, I immediately enter there to pack all the bottles, damming the consequence of being looked down upon so that my children can get a good education. Once we bring these bottles, they weigh it with a measuring instrument.”
After her husband’s demise, Victoria Eteimo, a 50-year-old widow, reflected on the challenging adjustment she and her children had to make when they moved to the Ajegunle neighbourhood.
She narrated, “Following the passing of my husband, things were so rough that my children could not go to school anymore; they were just at home. Then, a friend recommended Isrina Schools when she noticed my struggles. After waiting for three years at home, my daughter joined the school at seven.”
Another parent, Iyabo Kabiru, said she noticed the school was doing its best; she enrolled her children because they were burdened with the expenses of the high cost of living.
She said, “At the moment, I just have one child in the school, and the second child is coming. It was when I realised the school’s standard was not bad that I decided first to enrol my first child. I will enrol my second child soon; I have not done so because of financial constraints. I am doing it one by one because we also pay cash if we cannot pay with bottles.
“However, we have been facing challenges with the bottle collection because many other collectors, particularly men, are competing with us and collecting at a faster rate. Moreover, the school’s situation worsened following a significant fire incident that affected a large part of the Ajegunle area. This event has hurt the entire locality, including the reduced frequency of bottle collectors, who often blame the poor road conditions for their dwindling visits.”
Similarly, a 36-year-old parent, Omolara Abodunrin, mentioned that many parents who enrolled their children in school struggled to afford the tuition fees.
She said, “Presently, I have one child in the school, while two recently graduated. We find it difficult to pay; my husband is out of a job, and I have five children. I am the only one catering for all of them. My children and I wake up very early, by 4:00 am, to pick up plastic bottles from one place to another.
“We fervently appeal to the government to recognise the dire circumstances in which we find ourselves and kindly offer us assistance, as our community is mired in an ongoing and profound state of hardship and adversity,” the parent appealed.
Poor facilities
Stepping through the gates of the school compound, a world of innocence and learning unfolded. The compound housed the youngest souls, from preschool to basic 1.
An expansion had necessitated acquiring another space just a few blocks down the road. This newfound facility was earmarked for the older students, ranging from primary 2 to 5.
Intriguingly, the initial scene that met the gaze of our correspondent was the preschool area, a cluster of houses ingeniously transformed into two classrooms.
These makeshift structures, demarcated by wooden partitions, were teeming with little children. Their faces radiated with anticipation as they gathered for their assembly, a delightful precursor to the upcoming mid-term break.
Stepping outside, our correspondent ventured into the heart of the primary 2 to 5 classrooms. The setting was modest but well-kept, with small classrooms and narrow corridors where rows of neatly arranged bottles provided an unexpected contrast to the simplicity of the surroundings.
However, what was attention-catching was the state of the toilet facility. This basic necessity was a stark reminder of the challenges the school faced. The toilet, a structure constructed from zinc, stood forlorn and empty. Devoid of the essentials, it served merely as a place for students to relieve themselves, evoking a sense of bare necessity and a desire for improvement.
While speaking to our correspondent, the proprietor of the institution, Grace Amuzie, noted that they had been managing the toilet for years.
She said, “While all the students use the same area for urinating, only three to five potties are available for over 200 students to take turns when they need to defecate.”
Having over 200 students rely on a few potties, according to health experts, was not good enough.
The United Nations Children’s Fund recently said Nigeria must construct about 3.9 million toilets to achieve the open-defecation-free goal by 2025.
The UNICEF Chief of Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene, Jane Beva, disclosed this at the opening of a two-day maiden toilet business owners’ conference in Abuja.
Beva said Nigeria needed more toilet facilities, adding that only about 180,000 to 200,000 washrooms were built annually.
She raised the concern over the poor sanitation level in Nigeria, adding that the 2021 WASH national outcome routine mapping reported that 48 million people were still practising open defecation in the country.
The report also noted that 95 million Nigerians need access to essential sanitation services.
“About 1.3 per cent of GDP or N455bn is lost annually due to poor access to sanitation – health, health care savings and productivity. Every dollar invested in water and sanitation results in three to 34 dollars in economic benefits.
“Nigeria cannot continue business as usual, or it will miss the target of 2025 and 2030. There is a need to strengthen and scale up proven strategies to reach the country’s goals. The private sector must work closely with all tiers of government and communities to actively create sustainable solutions to address the sanitation needs of unserved and underserved communities and help grow capital investment and human capital.”
From the foregoing, the toilet facility in the Ajegunle school requires a total transformation, and the school is not unaware of it, according to findings by The PUNCH.
After primary school, what next?
While the name “Ajegunle” in Yoruba translates to ‘wealth has landed here,’ the stark reality of daily living for its residents was far removed from the promise of prosperity implied by its name. For most families, life has been a vicious circle of struggle and deprivation. Having seen some of their children out of primary school through the ingenious bottle-collection-payment mode, pursuing secondary education has been challenging due to the lack of money.
“We have to wait for the saving hands of scholarships, particularly for those who cannot afford public school levies of over N22,000,” one of the parents, Mrs Saheed, lamented.
“My 13-year-old daughter, who just finished primary school from Isrina Schools, is still at home because we have been unable to garner the required levies like tax clearance of N8,000, equating to N22,000, for payment to enrol her into a public secondary school,” she added.
In the case of Onwuka, she lamented that she did not know how to further the education of her just-graduated son.
She said, “After my son’s graduation since they do not take bottles in place of cash in public schools, I had to work hard before I could pay the public school levies required at the secondary school level. “
Explaining the bottle-for-school-fees initiative
The Isrina Schools’ proprietor explained that her motivation to establish the bottle-for-school-fees initiative stemmed from her educational journey, where she received sponsorship from a primary school for teacher training. However, once students complete primary school, they can attend public school with parental financial support or pursue academic scholarships.
She said, “We do not have any provision for secondary school; however, we try to procure academic scholarships for five of the children annually to further their education, being what we can afford for now.”
“Since we started in 2016, we have been able to go from four to 200 kids, providing academic scholarships and termly writing materials. Also, one of our key features is using recyclables, where parents bring plastics and then use them to pay their children’s school fees by partnering with the African Clean-Up Initiative.”
In an interview with one of the recipients of academic scholarships, 12-year-old Tomiwa Abodunrin explained that he earned his full scholarship through his dedication and commitment to studying his books.
He said, “It has been a very tough time for me and my family; while picking bottles for the completion of my school fees, people around look at me in a way I do not like, thinking I am picking dirt, but I do it boldly and tell them that I am not picking dirt, but plastics used in paying my school fees.
“On days when there is work, my dad gives me N2,000 to pay the school from time to time, but when there is no work, we have no choice but to pick bottles. I pick up the bottles as soon as I am back from school. When I get home, I pick a sack and roam the community searching for bottles. I want the government to provide food and money to help my parents earn a better living.”
Struggles after gas explosion
While speaking with our reporter, the proprietor noted that the school’s primary challenges started after a gas explosion around the community in 2020.
She recounted, “Back in 2020, there was a gas explosion in this vicinity, destroying makeshift structures and other numerous items, including the school, so we had to renovate. Life has been a continuous struggle since that incident.
“A few of our sponsors did come to our aid immediately following the explosion, but for quite some time, things have been challenging, especially for the African Clean-Up Initiative, which has pointed to the poor road conditions as a significant hurdle to transporting bottles collected by our pupils’ parents. Consequently, we have been making do with what we have, though still struggling with supplies and feeding the children.
“However, we haven’t received any bottle collections since last year due to logistical issues on the part of the African Clean-Up Initiative. Occasionally, my husband has had to engage in persistent follow-ups with them. Yet, they consistently cite the challenging road conditions in our area as the main reason for their infrequent visits. So, we just gathered the bottles somewhere and collected cash for now. However, we are going to resume the collection of bottles soon.”
Building a school on waste collection
Speaking on what brought about the idea, the 23-year-old proprietor noted that the school was built on waste.
She said, “Looking at this environment, there is no better way to promote environmental sustainability than using recyclables, thereby keeping the environment clean. We have been doing this in partnership with the African Clean-Up Initiative, which picks the bottles from us for recycling and gives us money in exchange. So, the money is being used at the end of the term to cover educational costs.
“About one kilogramme required by them is between N25 and N30; parents are expected to bring 3,000 to 4,000 kg of plastic bottles to make it N15,000, which is the school fees we charge. However, we do not pick up to that amount. Hence, since 2019, we have been able to recycle about 25,000kg; though the proceeds are not enough, we thank God for the little coming from sponsorships. However, we still have a long way to go financially.”
According to her, over time, there have been issues with finance, particularly in the payment of teachers.
“Our education fee amounts to N15,000, but if the parents cannot meet the fee requirement in cash and with plastics, sponsorship covers it. Furthermore, we can compensate our teachers through sponsorship funds, and there are many times when I had to pay them from my salary. Preschool teachers are paid N5,000, while teachers from Basic 2 to Basic 5 receive N7,000. Additionally, our lease for the preschool compound is set to expire this year, with an option to purchase it for N15m.
“We hope to serve about 500 kids annually as we are working on expanding to serve more children in the community and giving them access to basic education.”
She considers this as the school’s contribution to the campaign to reduce the number of Nigeria’s out-of-school children population, one of the largest in the world.
Out-of-school children statistics
In 2020, the World Bank brought attention to a significant educational crisis in Nigeria, revealing that over 11 million children between six and 15 years old were not attending school. This alarming statistic accounted for one in 12 out-of-school children globally and constituted 22 per cent of Nigeria’s children within this age group. The issue was multifaceted, encompassing challenges such as gender disparities in northern regions, boys dropping out in the South-South and South-East, internally displaced children, and almajiri and itinerant children primarily in the north.
To address this educational crisis, the Federal Government committed N220bn, sourced from a World Bank credit facility, to the Better Education Service Delivery for All programme in 17 states in 2020. The BEDSA programme, initiated in 2018, aimed to enhance equitable access, improve literacy, and strengthen accountability in basic education. Despite reported success in enrolling one million out-of-school children, the problem persisted. In response, the Universal Basic Education Commission introduced the Open School Programme in 2020, targeting flexible learning for out-of-school children, particularly in six states.
However, as of 2022, UNESCO reported a staggering increase in the number of out-of-school children in Nigeria, reaching approximately 20 million. This stark rise, compared to the 10.5 million reported by UNICEF in 2020, suggested that existing interventions and strategies had not effectively mitigated the issue.
UNESCO announced the figures in a statement, which read in part, “The new estimates, published online by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics and Global Education Monitoring Report, showed that sub-Saharan Africa remains the region with the most children and youths out of school. It is also the only region where this number is increasing; out-of-school rates are falling more slowly than the growing school-age population. The region with the second highest out-of-school population is Central and Southern Asia, with 85 million. India, Nigeria, and Pakistan are the top three countries with the most children and youth excluded from education.”
The former Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, blamed the rising figure of out-of-school children on state governors’ lukewarm response to the suggestion to declare an emergency on education, especially at the basic education level.
Recyclers back waste-to-school-fees- initiatives
The proprietor claimed that Isrina Schools, in collaboration with the African Clean-Up Initiative and Tangerine Africa, channelled funds from recycling to the school’s account to support the children.
The Founder of the African Clean-Up Initiative, Alexander Akhigbe, said recycling of plastic bottles was created to help underprivileged parents who wanted their children to be educated and achieve their dreams.
He said the project was in partnership with recyclers, noting that ACI was a non-governmental organisation collecting bottles from parents and handing them to recyclers who processed and gave value to the participants.
He said, “Part of the initiative was to stop bottles from finding their way into the ocean, and the project would go a long way in cleaning society. RecyclesPay, an educational project by the African Clean-Up Initiative, encourages parents to pay their children’s school fees with recyclables.”
The President of Africa Environmental Health Organisation, Afolabi Abiodun, said recycling waste to generate children’s school fees was a commendable initiative, advising that a waste bank be built for such purpose as done in other climes.
He said, “This recycling stands on two legs, which are educational and environmental. On the educational aspect, we want the children to go to school. Hence, the place of enlightening the parents and children comes into play: if they collect plastic waste, they can keep it. The parents can then take it to the waste banks to exchange the plastics for funds to finance the children’s education. However, I do not advise children roaming the street to look for plastic waste because of the risks involved.
“On the environmental aspect, it aligns with the sustainable development goals which promote environmental sustainability in the country.”
In an interview with our correspondent, Mariam Lawani, a plastic waste recycler and founder of Greenhill Recycling, expressed her satisfaction with the transformative effects of waste recycling, not just for generating school fees but also for environmental sustainability.
She highlighted how it promoted environmental well-being and created livelihood opportunities for women and young adults.
To her, discarded plastic materials were misplaced resources in motion.
Lawani, together with her pickers and sorters, collects nylon and plastic bottles waste, sorts them, compresses them, and delivers them to recyclers, who shred and turn them into fibres for clothes.
She said, “We have people who started micro-businesses from the funding they raised from collecting plastics. So, we are glad of how far we have come and how much impact we have been able to make over the years.
“We have had over 7,500 people who benefited in cash or incentives. When we started, we were able to give people cash instantly. However, over time, maybe over three months or six months, we will be able to organise an event where all the people who recycle also will come and we will give them incentives like bags of rice, cartons of noodles, things that can support their lives and their livelihood.”
A case for more waste-to-wealth initiatives
The Greenhill Recycling founder, Lawani, added that the waste-to-wealth initiative had become a generic motivation for people to continue to collect and recycle plastic waste for different purposes.
However, she reiterated that her sorted and compressed plastics were recycled into polyester fibre, “which can then be spawn and woven into cloths” like Aso-Ofi.
“So, most of the jerseys and other cloth materials that you see 70 per cent polyester on their labels are made from plastics,” she added.
Recycled plastics, she noted, could also be converted to plastics that could be used for packaging, bed, and pillow stuffing, among others.
Being passionate about reducing the plastic waste menace, the recycler stated that drop-off centres, doorstep pick-ups, door-to-door collection, and collection from organisations were the methods she employed to ensure her pickers were not exposed to the hazards of collecting at dump sites.
The transition from being dressed prim and proper and working at a bank to being dressed in branded T-shirts, denim, and sneakers was not what many would think of an ex-banker turned recycler, Santos Adebola-Sobanjo.
Bringing in the poise and business approach of the banking sector, Adebola-Sobanjo began to reach out to event centres, hotels, and corporate organisations with the desire to collect plastic waste on particular days.
According to her, after the plastics were picked, they were sorted and compressed for sale to recyclers, who reconvert them into fibre.
Picking and sorting, Adebola-Sobanjo said, was not the end goal, recycling the plastics into fibre and buttons was the target.
“Waste is not just waste. Waste pickers shouldn’t be seen as riff-raffs to be avoided as if there’s a virus in their carrier. These people are at the forefront of the waste industry and must be dignified. I will never call anyone a scavenger; I would rather call them informal pickers. That way, the job description is dignifying,” she said.
Also, Stephen Ochigbo, a professor of polymer chemistry at the Federal University of Technology, Minna, stated that recycling was one of the approaches to solving the plastic waste problem.
Ochigbo, who is also a researcher on polymer, blends, composites, and nanocomposites, added that the challenge of sorting out the plastics from different contaminants that had engrained themselves in waste and the inability to recycle all plastics, for example, thermosets, were the reasons for the low success of recycling.
He added, “There is another recycling method called chemical recycling, where chemicals are added to transform the plastic product into another raw material for producing fuel. Plastics are made from fuel, and when converted to plastics, the energy is still assumed to be locked up in the plastics and can be recovered through chemical recycling, but this is expensive. But it is an area that we are looking at in developing countries. To translate waste plastic to fuel, energy recovery is a technology we do not have yet in Nigeria.”
