The Permanent Secretary, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mr Adesola Olusade, says plastic waste has become a major threat to human health.

This is contained in a statement issued by Deputy Director of Information, Abuja Environmental Protection Board, Mrs Janet Peni, and made available to the media on Friday in Abuja

Olusade said this during a road show to commemorate this year’s World Environment Day, with the theme: “Beat Plastic Pollution.

World Environment Day is marked on June 5 of every year.

Olusade, who was represented by Mr Osi Braimah, Director of AEPB, said that the production, usage and disposal of plastic materials were not only polluting ecosystems, but also putting human and animal health in grave danger.

According to him, plastic pollution also destabilises the climate.

He further stated that globally, plastic waste situation had assumed a worrisome dimension, adding that same also applied to FCT.

“It has also become endemic, with drainage channels, canals and waterways littered with various plastic wastes.

“This contributes significantly to climate change, which results in short term damage, such as erosion and flooding, due to blockages of streams and waterways.

“This is why the matter is of utmost priority, as the world marks yet another World Environment Day in 2023,” Olusade said.

The permanent secretary said that it was pertinent to bring to the fore the awareness of plastic management as an adaptation strategy to climate change.

“Only an integrated systemic shift from a linear to a circular economy can keep plastics out of our ecosystems and bodies.

“The recent United Nations Environmental Report laid out key elements of the required market transformation, rethinking and redesigning products, reusing, recycling, reorienting and diversifying markets,” he said.

Olusade, however, expressed the optimism that addressing the demand for durable plastics would go a long way in solving the problem.

He noted that governments and the private sector would save money and that hundreds of thousands of new jobs would be created, thus contributing to poverty alleviation, if everyone recognised and play his/her roles.

“Governments will create the regulatory environment to incentivise the shift to a circular economy.

“The political will to do so is demonstrated by the FCT administration, backed by broad-based support by residents of the FCT and Nigerians in general,” he said.

NAN reports that the road show commenced from Central Business District to Jabi market and Utako potor parks in Abuja.

The Chairperson of this year’s World Environment Day Celebration Committee in AEPB, Ms Rebecca Mamven, said that the sensitisation on plastic waste recycling at Utako motor park was strategic.

She said that the road show was aimed at enlightening the public on the beneficial usage of plastics and their harmful effects on the environment.

“Plastics take a very long time to degrade. When you dispose of the plastics, either on water or soil, it affects the quality of the soil and the aquatic life forms,” she said.

Mamven urged Nigerians to sustain the environment for successive generations.

According to her, the activities to mark the day will continue with environmental project exhibition by secondary school students on solutions to plastic pollution. (NAN)

The International Water Management Institute (IWMI) has set up modalities for Nigeria to use solid waste from the agriculture, water, sanitation and energy sources for economic development.

Dr Boluwaji Onabolu, IWMI Lead Consultant, said this at the stakeholders engagement workshop on ‘Assessment of the Investment Climate for Bio-Circular Economy in Nigeria’.

Bio-Circular Economy uses renewable biological resources from land and sea, such as crops, forests, fish, animals and micro-organisms, to produce food, health, materials, products, textiles and energy.

According to her, Nigeria has the potential to turn around its economic growth with huge investments and opportunities in the environment, sanitation, water, and agriculture sectors.

She said the rising global demand for water, food, and energy, in the context of a growing deficit and competing uses, reinforced the need for more investments in circular economy approaches.

She said the institute was assessing the investment climate for businesses so as to promote a circular economy in which nothing is put into waste.

She said investing in Resource Recovery and Reuse (RRR) businesses in Nigeria, was a potential pathway to sustainable economic development, saying the institute was convinced that stakeholders’ participation would make a huge impact.

“We have learnt about studies that revealed that 183 million Nigerians do not have access to clean energy, so this is why IWMI has facilitated this workshop.

“We will have answers to some of the questions, why is it that these businesses like changing solid wastes into energy forms like biogas, and why is it that they are not able to sustain their growth?” 

Prof. Olumuyiwa Jayeoba, President, Association of Deans of Agriculture in Nigeria, said many opportunities abound in the agriculture value chain.

Jayeoba said if Nigeria managed climate change and its impact well, it would have an advantage in the agricultural sector.

He said climate smart agriculture would sustainably increase productivity and income, and attainment of the National Food Security and Development Goals.

He said an effective approach in climate smart agriculture, would also strengthen  the country’s resilience to climate change and variability.

Also speaking, Dr Chimere Ohajinwa, noted that the impact of climate change in the environment was evident in extreme weather conditions, drought conditions, affecting the attainment of the sustainable development goals.

Ohajinwa said Nigeria faced significant waste management challenges, with increasing volumes of solid waste generated in urban areas.

She said the RRR approaches emphasised proper waste segregation, collection, and recycling.

“Establishing efficient recycling facilities and promoting community-based recycling initiatives can help recover valuable materials such as plastics, paper, glass, and metals.

“This creates employment opportunities in waste collection, sorting, and recycling industries, contributing to economic growth,” she said.

Speaking on circular bio-economy, the environmental expert said it emphasised the use of renewable natural capital and focused  on minimising waste, so as to meet the sustainable development goals by 2030.

Ms. Nneka Akunwa, a sanitation and hygiene expert, said Nigeria has a huge market for sanitation products and services.

According to her, half of Nigeria’s population, about 111 million people, do not have a decent toilet of their own, lacking basic or safely managed sanitation.

“One in every four Nigerians are practicing Open defecation, and a reasonable amount of untreated human waste ends up in the environment, threatening people’s health and degrading ecosystems.

“Imagine  the business opportunities that are available in the sector if toilet business owners come on board.”

IWMI has inaugurated  a Nigerian assessment which is being conducted from February to May in collaboration with the Federal Government.

The findings will be used as a basis to design context-appropriate policies and strategies that can address the bottlenecks and increase RRR business attractiveness for investments. (NAN)

WaterAid Nigeria on Tuesday formally launched its new five-year Country Programme Strategy, to improve access to basic water and sanitation services for 17 million Nigerians.

At the event in Abuja, the organisation’s Country Director, Ms Evelyn Mere, said the strategy was crucial to ensure that everyone had access to clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene.

According to her, WaterAid is collaborating with multiple stakeholders in addressing the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) challenges facing Nigerians, especially the poor and the vulnerable.

She said the organisation, at the global level, recently launched a 10-year strategy.

Mere said: ”This is to see that by 2032, through its work in Nigeria and other parts of the world, 400 million more people are reached with sustainable, safe water, sanitation and hygiene.

“With a population of over 200 million, we plan to have Nigeria contribute substantially to those numbers.

”Secondly, this is to ensure increased annual financing for WASH in low-and middle-income countries to the tune of $15 billion.

“We have invited you today to launch a strategy that you are part of developing. In doing this, we are further urging you to join us as we commence the journey of implementation.

“You are indispensable co-travelers in our quest to reach 10,000,000 people directly through our interventions with basic WASH services and behaviours and influence improved basic WASH access for 17,000,000 more people”.

Mere said WaterAid Nigeria was conscious of the rapidly changing context in the world and its peculiar dynamics, hence the need to respond to emerging issues and the changing landscape around WASH.

She added that the strategy laid out the blueprint for maximising emerging opportunities through systemic change and accelerating impact over the next five years.

The country director said the commitment was to ensure that women could improve their productivity and realise their rights to a good education and live free of the risk of gender-based violence.

This, she added, would also see that high rates of maternal and infant mortality due to poor WASH became a distant memory.

Minister of Water Resources, Alhaji Suleiman Adamu, said Nigeria was strategic country in the drive to achieve the global WASH targets under SDG 6.

Adamu said; “Nigeria’s progress or otherwise in this regard will have great impact at the regional and global levels.

“Some of the most recent initiatives include the initiation of the development of a National WASH Policy for which a multi-stakeholder oversight committee has been inaugurated.

“The signing of Memoranda of Understanding for the take off of the SchoolWASH, HealthWASH and YouthWASH Programmes in collaboration with the relevant Ministries is also one step.

“These high-level initiatives clearly demonstrate the strong political will of the Federal Government in reversing the narrative on Nigeria’s poor WASH indices and accelerating access to sustainable services.”

He said President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration had consistently ensured the implementation of policies and programmes designed to address identified sector gaps.

Adamu added: ”This is to improve access to services and demonstrate Government’s commitment and prioritisation of WASH.”

Adamu, represented by the Permanent Secretary, Dr Didi Walson-Jack, said that the strategy would achieve universal, sustainable and safe access to influence change and strengthen WASH resilience to climate change.

The minister added that the administration was bequeathing these initiatives as a legacy to the next administration, with the hope that it would be sustained in order to move the WASH sector in Nigeria to the next level.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that within the last 27 years, WaterAid Nigeria has been working to ensure that Nigerians have access to clean water, decent toilets, and good hygiene.

This was being done through Systems Strengthening, Partnerships and Empowering Citizens and stakeholders in addressing the WASH challenges facing Nigerians, especially the poor and vulnerable. (NAN)