Chinonso Lekwa is a staff of Global Integrated Education Volunteers Association (GIEVA). He is passionate about volunteering and advocating for transformative education.

Prior to joining GIEVA, Chinonso was a volunteer Science Teacher and inspired a vast number of students to pick an interest in a science-related career. He pioneered a science club in the school where he periodically presented awards to deserving students. He has mentored and prepared quite several candidates for the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) exam and helped them improve their scores and eventually secure admissions. 

Working in line with GIEVA’s objectives of inspiring, educating, and volunteering, he was vitally involved in the pioneering of GIEVA’s transformative Club- Creative Hands in Organizational Innovations for Constructive Education and Sustainability (CHOICES). The CHOICES Club is a platform for identifying and recruiting members to achieve sustainable development, using education and schools to drive development in communities, and organizations, and we create a platform for members’ engagement in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs)

Chinonso is of the opinion that humans are the custodians of the earth and has always advocated that people should leave the environment better than they met it. CHOICES Club members, led by him, participated in the 2023 UN ECOSOC Partnership Forum Virtual Side Events project organized by the parent Organization (GIEVA) themed, “Reinventing Urban Cities”.

He earned a Bachelor of Science Education degree from the University of Jos, Nigeria, and obtained the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) License upon satisfying the requirement.

Inspiring youth for constructive engagement

GIEVA runs a club called Creative Hands in Organizational Innovations for Constructive Education and Sustainability hereby referred to as CHOICES. The CHOICES club mobilizes young Nigerians towards achieving the UN SDGs through volunteerism and creative inventions. As part of our project, “Reinventing Urban Cities,” to mark the UN ECOSOC 2023 Partnership Forum side Event, GIEVA mobilized government agencies and CHOICES volunteers to embark on a one-day campaign of clearing dumps in a designated area within the city of Jos.

The aim of the project is to work on the psyche of all stakeholders on the need to be custodians of the earth.  Once the such mindset is imbibed by the populace, we will be able to build a healthy and sustainable environment. Prior to now, the populace is of the opinion that environmental care is the sole responsibility of the government. With such an attitude, they will wreck the environment which will in turn lead to several devastating effects on their health and principally the earth.

GIEVA partnered with the Jos Metropolitan Development Board, Plateau State Environmental Protection and Sanitation Agency, and the Plateau State Ministry of Environment in this project. The project site was strategically selected as it was situated at the city center and was a major concern for the health of the dwellers. Being a commercial area and at the city center, we achieved the intended goal of creating awareness. This project is geared towards achieving a sustainable environment and curbing climate change in line with the UNSDG 11 which focuses on urban planning, transport systems, water, sanitation, waste management, disaster risk reduction, access to information, education, and capacity-building which are all important issues to sustainable urban development.