Igbo staff clean up FUTMinna, calls for efficient waste management on campus

Chairman, Igbo Staff Association (ISA), Federal University of Technology, Minna, Dr Ikechukwu A. Diugwu, has called for proper waste management measures to enable the institution to achieve a cleaner environment.

Dr Diugwu, a staff of the Department of Project Management Technology, made the call recently during the second edition of the environmental sanitation exercise organised by the Igbo Staff Association of the university tagged ‘Keep FUTMX Clean.’

He stated that there should be a designated functional waste collection and disposal mechanism in place, stating that the waste should be sorted according to their types for easy disposal or recycling.

“Open burning of waste is rampant and should be discouraged. This is because the emission of particulates, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, among others, contribute immensely to the current environmental and climatic challenges, such as ozone layer depletion. There is a need to have a controlled burning system through the provision of incinerating points, as a starting point towards addressing some of these challenges,” he advised.

The chairman said the association discovered that some cleaners hid collected refuse in-between flowers, rather than properly disposing of them, while he called for proper monitoring by the supervisors.

He described the exercise as successful, adding that it was a symbolic gesture of the association’s desire to contribute to the continued physical growth and wellbeing of the university ‘where we earn our daily-bread,’ he said.

“It is symbolic because though it would be absolutely impossible for the association to clean up the entire university, we envisage that other stakeholders will key into this, thereby institutionalising the #KeepFUTMXClean culture. It is also intended to deepen the relationship between the ethno-religious entities within the university, where everyone is a critical contributor to the overall growth and development of the system,” he added.

The don expressed deep appreciation to the management of the university for its support which, he noted, contributed immensely to the success of the exercise.

In her remarks, the vice chairperson, Igbo Staff Association, Professor Elizabeth Onwuka said the clean-up exercise was an eye-opener which revealed the consumption of some unhealthy things, noting that there is need to know the source and the taker of such substances.

She stated that the association would submit a position paper to the management on proper ways to manage waste on campus, as well as their findings during the clean-up exercise.

Members of the association were joined by other staff and students of the institution as part of the efforts to beautify the campus.

The clean-up exercise was the second in the series which the association commenced in March, 2020.

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