When she started out 16 years ago, very few people gave Sola Alamutu’s ‘greening project’ any chance of survival but she persisted and she has won the heart of many especially young people who are now more conscious of their environment.
Her interest in the environment stems from the fact that she grew up in a clean ‘green environment’ defined by rows of gardens and lots of fruit trees where her mother planted tomatoes, okra, peppers and other vegetables.
Dubbed green queen of Nigeria, she founded Children and the Environment (CATE) with the primary objective to promote environmental issues among children and other young people, using the literary arts as a springboard.
Over the past years, the catering and hotel management graduate had faced challenges that could have discouraged her but she was persistent to actualise her dream.
“Initially, we had some challenges, which were mainly due to the fact that Nigerians were seemingly not interested in environmental issues and could not understand the relationship with children. So it was difficult to get support for CATE,” she had said in an interview.
She had to fund the many activities of the project, which includes the annual Green Festival, from her pocket and assistance from friends. She also co-authored the book, ‘Cate saves the Ikopi Rainforest’ with Peju Dawodu which won the 2004 ANA Prize for Children’s Literature.
Although the book has been adopted into the curriculum of some schools CATE is working with, the environmental activist who has been cleaning up Lagos beaches with other volunteers, is already working towards creating training materials for environmental-education.
