Doyinsola Ogunye: Cleaning Up Nigeria’s Beaches and Empowering Women and Youth
By: Abudu Olalekan
Let me tell you about Doyinsola Ogunye.
This woman from Lagos doesn’t just talk about change — she’s out there making it happen. She founded two organizations, MEDIC (Mental and Environmental Development Initiative for Children) and Reswaye (Recycling Scheme for Women and Youth Empowerment). Her goal? Tackle the plastic waste choking our beaches while giving women and young people real power and purpose.
“I spend most of my free time on the beach,” she told me. “I was lucky — my parents let me run wild, put my legs in the sand, get scratched up, just be a kid. But now? A lot of children don’t even go outside anymore.”
That’s what drives her.
Through MEDIC, kids aren’t just learning about the environment — they’re living it. They hit the beaches, pick up plastic, and discover how to recycle, upcycle, plant trees, and understand aquatic life. Most importantly, they reconnect with nature. As Ogunye puts it, “We need to expose children to nature because they are nature.”
She doesn’t stop with the kids.
With Reswaye, she’s empowered over 4,000 women across 41 communities. These women collect plastic, sell it, and turn waste into income. School fees get paid. Meals improve. Some even start the small businesses they’ve always dreamed about.
Ogunye saw how people were burning or dumping trash straight onto the beach and decided enough was enough.
“We thought, why don’t we educate them? Show them they can actually make money from recycling,” she said. “Pay school fees. Afford decent food. Start something they’re passionate about.”
The system is simple but powerful. Reswaye buys plastic from the women and children, then sends it to recycling plants where it gets turned into bottles, hangers, toys, and other useful items.
But here’s what really sets her work apart: the community spirit. People donate their plastics and choose to give the proceeds to struggling families instead of keeping the money.
“Some people and organizations bring us their recyclables and say, ‘I don’t want cash for this — please support this pregnant woman,’ or ‘Use the money to help this community,’” Ogunye explained. “And that’s exactly what we do.”
At the end of the day, Ogunye isn’t just fighting pollution. She’s fighting the fear and limitations that keep people away from nature.
“There are too many ‘no’s’ when it comes to the outdoors,” she says. “Parents don’t want their children at the beach. They don’t want them swimming. It limits the mind… We need to move past that and actually go out and live.”
And that’s exactly what she’s helping people do.
