It started with a question. ‘What does it mean to go green?’ It was answered with blank stares and confusion. It jumpstarted a movement…
Sitting in a class with her students talking about environmentalism, Adenike Akinsemolu, a lecturer at Adeyemi College was floored by how ignorant her otherwise intelligent students were about issues of environmentalism in Nigeria. As an educator and avid green advocate, Adenike saw an opportunity to directly engage this ignorance in her students and students on other campuses across the country.
Instead of relying exclusively on her lectures and her limited sphere of influence, Adenike decided that sitting and talking about the issues would not solve the problems. Action was required. Who better to act than the next generation of leaders? Her vision was simple – to create a network of passionate, energetic, well-educated university students who could return to their campuses and engage their peers in the work required in making Nigeria green again.
April 2015 - Starting on Adeyemi College campus, Adenike recruited and trained her initial cohort of green ambassadors.
June 2015 – The first Annual Green Series (Seminar & Community Service) was held.
July 2015 – Adeyemi College is recognized for its initiative model and is awarded two distinguished Green Award (Silver Category) for Green Campus Activities & Programmes and Gold Category Award for the Best New Comer from the Fourth Annual Green Campuses Conference 2015 held at the University of Western Cape in South Africa
October 2015 - Founder Adenike Akinsemolu wins Nigeria Energy Awards for Energy Efficiency and Advocacy and subsequently appointed as a member of the National Steering Committee of the Sustainable Energy Practitioners Association of Nigeria under the Ministry of Power.
November 2015 – Green Ambassador, Olayinka Ojo won the UN Spoken World for the World competition alongside seven (7) other poets for his poem about climate change titled “Childless Woman”. The Green Center celebrates its official opening.
December 2015 – Green Ambassador Aiyesoro Samuel launches ShopNig, Ondo State’s first e-commerce site. In addition, Green Campus Initiative trains students from 36 campuses.