‘Death of my colleagues at Computer Village led me to become a formal e-waste collector’

Ifeanyi Maduagwu is a former computer dealer at the popular Computer Village, Ikeja. He shares with PAUL OMOROGBE how the death of some of his colleagues in the market led him to switch from being a dealer to a formal collector of waste electronics and electrical appliances (e-waste). He started Association of Vendors of Used Computers and Allied Products (AVUCAP) in an effort to promote the environmentally sound management of e-waste.

What business were you into?

I was the chairman of my section at the computer village in Ikeja, Lagos. I was selling laptops and desktop computers. That was since 1995.

 

What happened while you were in that business?

Sometimes we get a system that is not in good condition. So we try to repair it to put it in order. Most times these guys (used computer dealers) don’t cover their noses when they are opening the systems, especially monitors, I mean the CRT (cathode-ray tube) monitors. When they open up these monitors, the gas in them will escape. When you try to open a CRT monitor, you have to discharge the current in it. If you don’t discharge the current in it it will shock you. The gas that is released enters one’s body system when you are not using any personal protection equipment (PPE). Most times, these guys inhaled this gas.

Over the years, I have seen some people lose their lives — at least three of them, I am sure!

One of my friends just slumped and died. I believe it is what he had been inhaling for years.

 

How I became a formal collector

Professor Oladele Osibanjo, an expert in e-waste and pioneer executive director of Basel Convention Coordinating Centre for the African Region (BCCC-Africa), was the man that came to Computer Village to sensitise us about the hazards of e-waste. When he came, I started a ‘fight’ with him. The ‘fight’ was: these government people have come to chase us out of business. But he was persistent in telling us the dangers involved with e-waste. I went to his seminars the first and second times. Then I became interested in what he was talking about. I went as far as going to meet him in Ibadan. After our meeting in Ibadan, I returned and decided to get my colleagues at Computer Village involved in the environmentally sound management of e-waste. So, I formed this association (Association of Vendors of Used Computers and Allied Products) with about 100 people initially. But when money is not coming into what you are doing, there is little interest. Gradually the number dropped to 40! But we kept going.

This association is aimed at making sure people understand the need for PPE when working on used computers. We need to protect ourselves and those that are around us. We also collect waste electronics and electrical appliances an effort to promote the environmentally sound management of e-waste.

 

Challenges

We have collection problems. You cannot get an item from somebody if you do not have enough money to pay them. People still want good money for their electronics even though they are a waste. Even organisations like banks will not just give up their used electronics. I have written to most banks in Nigeria. One of the banks put theirs up for bidding. We participated in the bidding just to get into their system.

When we collect used electronics and electrical appliances we take them to formal recyclers such as Hinckley that carries out the recycling of these items in an environmentally sound manner.