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Coca-Cola Celebrates World Environment Day As Employee Action Becomes Community Passion
The World Environment Day is the United Nations’ principal vehicle for awareness and action for the protection of the environment.
Over the years, the celebration marked every year on June 5th, has come to serve as a global platform for public outreach and deep reflection focused on the challenges of the environment, growing annually with participation from over 143 countries.
The Coca-Cola System, on its part, has committed to reduce waste by helping to collect the same amount of packaging it sells for reuse, help communities identify and better understand their existing recycling and collection challenges; and motivate consumers to recycle their packages.
In line with this vision, employees of Coca-Cola Nigeria Limited decided to lead by example by collecting used plastic/PET bottles on a weekly basis from their homes and neighborhoods, depositing same to a designated collection center created at the company’s official car parking lot, from where program partners, RecyclePoint, would evacuate for onward processing.
The modest initiative began with just a few bottles and cans collected monthly, but then began to gain traction as associate volunteers from the CokeCARES team began to drive active collection and participation in the initiative.
This drew the attention of onlookers and community bystanders who curiously enquired to know more about the plastic collections and recycling activities.
This provided an opportunity for proper but timely education on the importance of the careful management and responsible disposal of post-consumer waste, especially PET.
That was the turning point. from this, the Ikoyi neighborhood of Gerrard road, where the Coca-Cola Nigeria office is situated has seen an increased participation from female street sweepers, Janitors and residents who keyed into the World Without Waste Initiative leading to increased recovery of plastic bottles and other recyclables within the neighborhood.
Leading this year’s collection drive, Mrs Abidemi Salau, a widowed mother of three, has since January, single handedly collected over 1 ton of PET bottles and other recyclables. In her words she said, “I am happy that the small proceeds I get from this supports me and my family and this is my little way of contributing to a cleaner environment”.
To mark this year’s World Environment Day, Coca-Cola Nigeria under the auspices of its associate volunteer program, CokeCARES, decided to celebrate and encourage Mrs Abidemi’s efforts, as well as other community members who had dedicated themselves to the daily collection and drop-off of PET bottles from the neighborhood, with a session comprising short but informative remarks on the need to preserve the environment and the Coca-Cola World Without Waste vision.
The informal collectors who received food packs, shopping vouchers, and delicious beverages, expressed delight at the gesture and committed to continuous collection of these PET bottles.
Mazi Uzonu, founder of Recycle Point – partners of Coca-Cola in this recycling endeavour, expressed his cautious optimism for the future of recycling, while also pointing out our collective roles.
“Plastic waste poses a threat to the environment and if properly recycled, we can make the most of these recyclables and improve our environment.” he said.
In her closing remarks, Nwamaka Onyemelukwe, Public Affairs, Communications and Sustainability Manager for Coca-Cola Nigeria Limited, expressed gratitude to these unsung heroes and reflected on the journey to a more sustainable world.
“On days like this, it’s important to not only reflect on the decadence of our environment but to be reminded of the responsibility that we all have in making the world cleaner, safer and more sustainable”, she remarked.
So far, a total of 8,474kg of recyclables have been collected from the immediate environment and repurposed for other uses.
Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN) has awarded a total of N13 million in grants to three standout tech startups at the 2025 Techpreneur Summit held in Lagos, reinforcing its commitment to innovation and inclusive growth among Nigeria’s micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
The winners include: BuyScrap, a digital marketplace for recyclable materials – N6 million; Qiqi Farms, which connects local farmers to hospitality and export markets – N4 million; Eco-Cyclers, a youth-led recycling initiative based in Enugu – N3 million
Alongside the grant awards, DBN also launched a new digital data asset, a first-of-its-kind platform aimed at enabling data-driven decisions within the MSME ecosystem.
The platform offers deep insights into business trends, sector-specific challenges, and growth opportunities—supporting smarter policymaking and targeted investments.
In his keynote address in Lagos, Tony Okpanachi, managing director/ CEO, DBN, described the event’s theme, “CTRL + SHIFT: Tech Empowered Movement for Naija,” as a strategic call to reimagine enterprise development in Nigeria.
“This isn’t just a keyboard shortcut,” he said. “It’s a mindset reset—powered by technology—to build a more inclusive, innovative, and resilient business landscape. From financing to innovation, DBN remains committed to enabling MSMEs to thrive.”
Okpanachi emphasized that the Summit aligns with DBN’s AMPLIFI Strategy, which integrates digital transformation, sustainability, and scalability into its core programs.
He highlighted initiatives such as the Digital Shift Workshops and the Eco-Innovation Challenge as key steps toward embedding innovation in Nigeria’s MSME sector.
Encouraging young innovators, he added: “The future belongs to those bold enough to imagine and build it. DBN is proud to support the ideas that will shape tomorrow.”
A major highlight was the unveiling of the DBN Data Asset—a digital platform designed to provide real-time, evidence-based insights into Nigeria’s MSME landscape.
The platform combines DBN’s proprietary data with external sources like the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) to offer a comprehensive view of MSME performance by region and sector.
Jeremy Dan Okayi, DBN’s Head of Strategy, Policy & Innovation, described the platform as: “A reservoir of insight, potential, and direction—built on two years of collaboration and shared vision. This tool will support informed decision-making across the public and private sectors.”
News
FCCPC Shuts France, Belgium, and Italy Visa Centres in Abuja Over Alleged Consumer Rights Violations
In a bold enforcement action, the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), supported by the Nigeria Police Force and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), has sealed off the visa application centres of France, Belgium, and Italy in Abuja over alleged consumer protection breaches and obstruction of regulatory investigations.
The affected centres—located at Mukhtar El-Yakub House in the Central Business District and operated by TLS Contact, a Teleperformance Company—were shut down following reports that they refused to accept formal correspondence from the FCCPC regarding a consumer complaint. The Commission cited further infractions, including obstruction of investigation and alleged assault of its officers during lawful duties.
Speaking to journalists at the scene, Mrs. Boladale Adeyinka, Director of Surveillance and Investigations at the FCCPC, explained: “This is an enforcement operation against TLS. On March 25, 2025, we served them a letter to address a consumer complaint, which they refused to accept. Instead, TLS officers assaulted our team, and in a subsequent visit on June 17, they also allegedly assaulted uniformed police officers.”
Citing Section 33 of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act (FCCPA), Mrs. Adeyinka emphasized that failure to comply with Commission directives constitutes a criminal offense, punishable by imprisonment, fines of up to ₦20 million, or both.
TLS has been ordered to appear before the Commission on June 20, 2025, to provide testimony, submit evidence, and make formal depositions. The company may be held liable for any financial losses suffered by applicants due to the disruption of visa services.
Despite multiple requests for comment, management at TLS Contact declined to respond as of press time.
Adedapo Segun, chief financial officer (CFO), Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), has explained why there is a missing sum of N210 trillion in the company’s audited financial statement spanning from 2017 to 2023.
According to Segun, the missing funds are cash calls requested by joint venture (JV) partners and settlement to the JVs.
He spokeat a session of the Senate Committee on Public Accounts chaired by Aliyu Wadada.
Segun was responding to an alarm raised by the committee over missing N210 trillion in NNPCL’s audited financial statement.
Recall that Wadada issued a one-week ultimatum to NNPCL to account for the missing N210 trillion.
Reacting, Segun said, “The N103 trillion and N107 trillion are made up of joint venture cash calls that have been requested by the JV operators and JV cash call payments made by NNPCL, which are yet to be reconciled because governance procedures were not done at that time.
“That is why you see the description reflecting those two items would be washed out because they are two sides of the same transaction, which is the cash calls by JV partners and the settlement by NNPCL.”
However, Habu Sadeik, a financial analyst, in a post on X on Thursday, said Segun’s response was unsatisfactory.
Saidik faulted NNPCL’s response about the fund discrepancies, noting that something is not right with the audited financial statement.
“Forget about the senators’ lack of knowledge.
“The CFO’s response is not satisfactory. Are you saying that cash calls worth hundreds of trillions are just appearing on your FS only in 2024 without 31 disclosure?
“If it’s a cash call, why hasn’t the disclosure said so?
“Which cash call is over 100 trillion?
“Something is definitely not right, and I hope they retrospectively correct that FS.
“Someone somewhere did a chef’s work,” he wrote on X.
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