Minister of State for Environment and Ecological Management, Dr Ishaq Salako, has charged Anambra residents to support Governor Chukwuma Charles Soludo’s initiative for a clean, green, and sustainable state in Nigeria.
The Minister gave the charge via visual when he addressed participants in the just concluded Plastic Waste Sustainability Summit organised by the Anambra State Waste Recyclers Association, ASWRA, in conjunction with the State Ministry of Environment, held in Awka over the weekend.
Salako noted that waste plastic remains the major contributor to land and water pollution, causing environmental disasters on farmlands across the country.
He said that over one point five million metric tonnes of plastic waste generated annually in Nigeria pose a serious threat to food safety and quality.
According to him, I am currently away in New York, the United States of America, as part of the Nigerian delegation to the United Nations General Assembly. Plastic pollution has become one of the gravest environmental problems not only in Nigeria but in the world as a whole.
“In Nigeria, the Federal Government, through the Ministry of Environment, is putting together a National system to support cycler management of waste products like plastic, aluminium, electro- and electrical equipment, batteries, and so on.
I want to assure the Anambra State Government that once the system becomes operational, the State will get its share of benefits.
“I, therefore, enjoined you all to join Prof. Chukuma Charles Soludo on his drive for a clean, green, and sustainable Anambra State, the Minister stated.
In their separate speeches, the Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Solo Chukwulobelu, the State Head of Service, Barrister Theodora Igwegbe, the Chief of Staff to the Governor, Mr. Ernest Ezeajughi, and the Managing Director of the Lagos State Waste Management Authority, LAWMA, Mr Ibrahim Adejuwon, say that it is important to provide an enabling environment for investments in the recycling business, noting that the government is ready to support the efforts geared towards the conversion of waste to wealth, waste to biogas, waste to compost manure, waste to energy, and waste to other useful products.
In his address, the State Commissioner for Environment, Engr. Felix Odimegwu, said recycling hubs and banks are being set up across Anambra State in line with Governor Chukwuma Soludo’s agenda on waste to wealth, adding that plastic waste can be taken to these hubs and exchanged for cash or other valuable items.
The Commissioner noted that the Ministry under his watch will ensure that the advocacy for a clean and green environment is sustained across the 179 communities in the State
For the ASWRA convener, Barrister Philip Obuesi, it is necessary for all residents to subscribe to a clean, green, and sustainable Anambra by changing their attitudes towards the environment.
The keynote speaker, Dr David Onuoha, who addressed the topic “Overcoming plastic pollution through community empowerment, capacity building, and stakeholder participation: A focus on the communities in Anambra State”, listed some of the causes of plastic pollution including inadequate waste management, consumer behaviour, lack of awareness, plastic production, ineffective regulations, packaging practises, natural events, and population growth, adding that the sustainability routes include reuse, recycle, reduce, remove, replace, and management and value chain initiatives.
The Nigerian Tribune gathered that the sustainability summit featured the presentation of awards and prizes to companies and communities that participated in the just concluded “All Community Plastic Challenge Competition”.
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