By Precious Oluwole
A Professor of Applied Social and Environmental Psychology at Adekunle Ajasin University (AAUA), Oluyinka Ojedokun, has called for a coordinated, multi-sectoral approach to addressing Nigeria’s environmental challenges, stressing that lasting solutions must combine behavioural change with institutional support.
Delivering the institution’s 56th inaugural lecture titled, “God Made the Earth, Humans Made the Town,” on Tuesday, March 3, 2026, the scholar argued that environmental problems such as climate change, biodiversity loss, poor waste management and urban pollution are largely products of human behaviour and collective action.
He proposed what he termed “Responsible Environmental Behaviour” as a preventive and sustainable response to environmental degradation, explaining that meaningful change requires individuals to adopt future-oriented habits that may involve minor present inconveniences for long-term collective benefits.
According to Prof. Ojedokun, environmental responsibility does not emerge by chance but is shaped by a complex interaction of attitudes, self-concept, self-efficacy, personality traits, emotional processes such as eco-anxiety and the broader social and institutional environment.
He emphasised that tackling pollution effectively demands the collaboration of governments, educational institutions, communities, researchers, and private sector operators.
The professor urged governments and local authorities to provide accessible waste disposal facilities, clear environmental signage, and consistent enforcement of anti-littering regulations.
He also called for the integration of psychosocial insights into sanitation campaigns to ensure that infrastructure, enforcement and education work together for sustainable impact.
Educational institutions and community organisations, he said, must move beyond awareness-driven campaigns to programmes that deliberately shape habits and social norms.
He recommended strategies such as goal-setting initiatives, scenario-based workshops, visual behavioural cues, and structured interventions that connect present actions to future environmental outcomes.
To ensure measurable impact, Prof. Ojedokun advocated the adoption of assessment tools including the Littering Prevention Behaviour Scale (LPBS) and the Littering Attitude Scale (LAS) to evaluate and guide environmental interventions.
He added that evidence generated from such tools should inform policy formulation, programme design, and targeted implementation.
He further recommended the involvement of social and environmental psychologists in designing initiatives that enhance environmental self-efficacy, foster positive self-concept and altruism and strengthen residents’ and students’ self-regulation and self-monitoring skills.
Addressing the private sector, the don urged waste management companies to improve the reliability and accessibility of waste services, incorporate behavioural insights into service delivery models and collaborate with educational institutions and government agencies to enhance recycling, sorting and responsible disposal systems.
He also called on community leaders, non-governmental organisations and civil society groups to facilitate participatory clean-up drives, promote peer-monitoring systems and reinforce anti-littering norms through grassroots awareness efforts.
Earlier in his remarks, the Vice Chancellor of Adekunle Ajasin University, Prof. Olugbenga Ige, commended the inaugural lecturer for his scholarly contributions to research, teaching and community development.
He noted that the lecture reflects the university’s commitment to generating knowledge that addresses pressing societal challenges and promotes sustainable development.
Discover more from Trace News Magazine
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
