Abstract Body

The importance of environmental education is now well recognized and this fact is underscored by the involvement of the Federal Government, State Agencies, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) and private individuals on environmental awareness creation. In Nigeria, the consequences of land degradation, deforestation, population explosion, desertification, water and air pollution amongst others have started manifesting in form of drought, temperature rise, flooding, low agricultural yield, drying up of water bodies, development of gully erosion etc. To curtail these environmental problems, environment related contents are being infused into higher institutions curriculum. Although, studies have been carried out in some parts of Nigeria such as Cross River, Kaduna and Imo States to examine the effect of environmental education on students’ awareness and attitude towards their environments, such study has not been documented in South-West Nigeria. This study intends to fill this gap by assessing the level of environmental awareness in Lead City University (LCU), Ibadan.

The general objective of the study is to ascertain the environmental awareness and literacy level in LCU. This study made use of both primary and secondary data; the primary data are sourced from field survey through the use of structured questionnaires. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistical method. Microsoft Excel was used for simple percentages, tables and graphs that were used to describe data collected during the course of the survey exercise.

The study shows that environmental awareness and literacy level among students on LCU campus is average; indicating a weak effect of environmental education on students on campus. The study also shows that female students are more environmentally aware than their male counterparts. Majority of the students agree that LCU environment is majorly clean; they also acknowledge that environmental pollution can affect their health and safety. Some of the students admit that they participate in polluting LCU campus and that the major source of pollution on campus is noise pollution. Majority of respondents also admit that LCU operates an effective waste management system and acknowledged the meaningfulness and value of trees and tree planting on campus.