Activist calls for effective sensitisation on waste management

Clean-Up Nigeria (CUN) an NGO, on Tuesday 16 March 2021 urged all tiers of government and relevant stakeholders to engage in effective sensitisation for positive result on waste management in the country.

Mr Ene Baba-Owoh, CUN’s National Coordinator made the call while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.

Baba-Owoh said that the sensitisation would go a long way to address environmental problems as well as improve waste management.

“Waste management is a major problem that has affected significant number of people in the country.

“I so much believe that something good can be done through sensitisation by government, individuals, groups, relevant stakeholders, to improve the quality of the Nigerian environment.

“Waste management is one of my organisation’s mission, because we have discovered that it is a challenge that affects everybody and is supposed to be everyone’s problem.

“We generate waste everyday so, the way and manner we generate waste determines the way we should tackle it.

“We all have roles to play, part of it is to educate people around us, let them know the importance of ways and manners we dispose our waste.

“Let them also know the importance of keeping waste bins around to enable them dispose their waste properly.

“Also, we should educate people on three ways of disposing their waste; let them know that waste can be reduced, reused, and recycled.

“In reducing, reusing and recycling the waste, you select waste such as plastic, papers, metals, nylon, among others.

“These waste can be sold to recycling companies who will as well convert the waste to useful materials, thereby turning waste to wealth.

“Meanwhile, there are other waste which cannot be used or converted; in this case, you gather them in a landfill, bury them.

“In the process of burying them, you are trying to bring them to a usable position, thereby turning them to manure in future.

“By doing this, you will discover that waste generates wealth and there is no waste that is a waste,” he explained.

Baba-Owoh advised all tiers of government to commercialise waste management and ensure that experts were strongly engaged in the business.

The national coordinator said that the CUN was committed in ensuring that waste management was tackled effectively in the country.

Baba-Owoh said that the organisation decided to create a National Technical Study Group with the support of global project partners from Canada, USA, Germany, France and Australia.

He said that the group was conducting a study on waste management in the 36 states including the FCT.

Baba-Owoh said that the organisation had embarked on various environmental activities such as establishment of environmental clubs in schools.

“We carry out sensitisation on waste management and other environmental activities across the country.

“All these activities are part of our own effort to support the government in ensuring that environmental challenges are tackled in Nigeria,” he said.

By Vivian Emoni