A teenager in Nigeria won an international prize for the use of recycled materials to convert the garbage floor into a garden with a stadium, and it does not stop there.
On Wednesday, 17 -year -old Amara Nuwali won the $ 12,500 prize in the 2025 Ground Prize competition, which raises a global network for adolescents who work on environmental sustainability projects. The program provides counseling and support for teenagers such as NWUNELI to increase the development of their ideas.
NWUNELI said it is planning to use the prize money to build three other gardens.
“I am enthusiastic about the future,” Business Insider told Business Insider.
It wants to create more green spaces and shadows in Lagos, a city of 17 million people with less than 3 % of the land area green, according to 2023 analysis.
People work in the slums in the bulletin with the city center at a distance in Lagos, Nigeria. AP Photo/Sunday Alamba
With the heat of cities all over the planet, the green space is very important. The trees and plants provide shade, which cool the Earth, but also help in reflecting the sunlight away and release moisture. Unlike the sidewalk, green spaces do not absorb a lot of heat, but they absorb rain water and help reduce floods.
Gardens and green spaces are also good for human health. Studies indicate that they can help reduce exposure to pollution, improve mood, and even reduce deaths.
Converting a discharge to a stadium
Nonley became concerned about the climate crisis after the floods flooded her home in 2020, which resulted in her family. She said that the spice trade for her parents was also affected, because the rain washed the crops.
As a self -described “theater child”, she wanted to direct the story, so she started recording and sharing videos about floods. She says her efforts collected two million Nigerian Naira (about $ 5,000 in 2020) to help rebuild two local schools.
That was the beginning of the young NGO of the youth, and called for preserving our roots. They produced a documentary on the climate crisis in Africa in 2023, which could Watch YouTube.
She said that the reaction to her documentary film made her want to help Nigerians communicate more with the environment.
“People came to us and they were like, but I do not see him in my community. I do not see nature,” Nawoni said.
So the group decided to bring nature to the house – starting with a small park that would not require a long government approval.
At a location in Ecotta, Nigeria, NWUNELI worked with local craftsmen to buy reclaimed minerals and wood, as well as tires that were throughout the region, to build a slide, swinging, and climbing wall.
NWUNELI is raised with students in the newly opened park. Peter Okoson
The area, which NWUNEI described as poor neighborhoods, is vulnerable to floods. In fact, many surrounding houses were built on pillars. Therefore, with the help of donations and volunteers, NWUNELI was planted in flood-resistant trees around the stadium-between 300 trees that it says planted across the wider area.
They first entered this discharge site in November. On March 1, they opened the park for school children.
“I remember when children were like,” Now something we can call beautiful. “Nawonelli said:” I have broken a kind of my heart. “
In her eyes, this is just an experimental garden.
Central Lagos Park
With Earth Award financing, NWUNELI plans for three other gardens. She says it will not be stadiums like those that were opened in March, but they are multifunctional community centers with gardens, greenhouse and waste collection sites.
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It aims to transform the large waste dump in Lagos, pending the approval of the government. For other hikers, the neighboring Nigerian states in Ogun and OYO, which also suffer from floods and droughts that are likely to get worse with global temperatures.
“I am not satisfied. I feel that every society needs it,” Nouonelli said.
She added that her final dream is to have a Central Park in Lagos.
The Earth Award chooses the winners of seven international regions. NWUNELI is the winner of Africa. A General vote It opens on Saturday to choose a world winner.