Climate Change: NCCRP, Ogun Govt Sensitise NGOs, CBOs On Waste Management
The Nigeria Climate Change Response Programme (NCCRP) has advised the residents of Ogun State to explore the potential in waste management for wealth creation.
The NCCRP disclosed this during an awareness and sensitisation campaign, held in Abeokuta, in partnership with the state Ministry of Environment, for NGOs and Community Based Organisations (CBOs) working on waste management, emphasising the need for collective action in addressing the waste management challenges facing Ogun State.
The campaign, supported by the European Union (EU), aimed to educate participants on the importance of proper waste disposal and the economic benefits of waste management.
The Commissioner for Environment, Dr Ola Oresanya at the two-day event, disclosed that part of the objectives of the state government is to make the state the capital of circular economy in Nigeria, hence, the way to go is recycling of wastes.
Oresanya equally stressed that since the state is the most industrialized state in Nigeria, all the industries operating in the state must have a circular process.
Also, the NCCRP Team Leader, Dr. Todd Ngara described waste as one of the sources of gas that bring about climate change, while arguing that waste can be turned into wealth which can equally benefit the state.
He disclosed that the programme is to sensitise and make people aware that climate change is real.
His words “We can turn waste into wealth; for example, waste can be made into fertilizer for agriculture. Waste can also be recycled into something else. So rather than just letting the waste rot, let them be used for other things like fertilizers.
“My message for the people of Ogun state is that they should see waste as a potential source of wealth which can be beneficial to the community. It should not just be thrown as waste
A Key Expert in Waste management at NCCRP who was the lecturer at the workshop, Dr. Taiwo Hammed stated the need for Nigeria to place equal importance on waste management as it does on oil, in order to achieve economic prosperity.
According to Dr. Hammed, Nigeria’s economic growth and development are closely tied to effective waste management practices. He argued that the country’s over-reliance on oil has led to neglect of other critical sectors, including waste management.
“My message to everybody in Nigeria is that we should change our mindset that waste is something that is useless. We should take waste serious like we take petroleum serious. We must learn to convert wastes to wealth.
“All around the world, people are converting wastes into energy, organic fertilisers, turning wastes into wealth means it can create employment for the teeming populations of jobless youths.
Speaking with journalists at the event, the key expert in Communication and Capacity Building for the NCCRP, Elizabeth Mwaniki
highlighted that not all waste should be considered as such, as there are individuals who view waste as a potential source of income.
She pointed out that instead of discarding plastic bottles after consuming water, these bottles could be repurposed for various uses in daily life.
Mwaniki stated “We are here to conduct awareness and sensitisation campaigns with NGOs working on waste management. We have been here before on different capacity building efforts but this time we are only the NGOs and CDOs in Ogun state. Waste management is very important to climate change.
“The Nigeria Climate Change Response Programme wants to build capacity for the country’s response to climate change initiative and one of the issues identified was waste management and how they contribute to greenhouse gases that cause climate change and our role here is to build capacity, teach, inform and communicate on the best ways to handle waste management whether it is recycling, reusing and since we are not always here , that is why we are partnering with with Ministry of Environment in Ogun state.
“My message to the people of Ogun state is to manage, recycle, reuse. Not all waste is waste. There are people who even believe that waste is money.when we buy water in plastic bottles, we can use the water for other food purposes so instead of throwing bottles away after use, we can use it for other purposes. Also, they should stop throwing waste on the roads because the government has created a designated place to throw wastes”, Mwaniki added.
