World Environment Day: Why we are yet to ban use of plastic in Nigeria —Minister

Today, June 5 is World Environment Day. Ahead of the celebration, the Minister of State, Environment, Ibrahim Usman Jibril, has spoken to the media on the significance of the event for Nigeria.

“The World Environment Day is set aside to sensitise people on the need to care for the environment. A lot of people take the environment for granted. They think they can use and dump. But that was before, and we can’t continue with business as usual. We have to change the trajectory and that is why the UN set June 5 as World Environment Day.

“The theme for this year is on plastic pollution. You are aware that everywhere you go in this country, the use of plastic materials in single use is endemic. When thrown into the environment, plastic is not degradable. It lasts 40 to 60 years in the environment and has harmful effects.”

He said the flooding in Ibadan before the channelisation of the Ogunpa River was due to dumping of garbage of which plastic constitutes a major part.

“We want to sensitise the world and the Nigerian environment to be careful about the use of plastic. Not that plastic materials aren’t useful, but their problems seem to outweigh their usefulness. So, if we must use plastic, we have to use them in a sustainable way, in a way that does not destroy our environment. The ultimate goal is to get them out of circulation or prevent single use only.”

He noted that some African countries like Rwanda and Kenya had banned the use of plastic.

He, however, said, “You know Nigeria is a huge country. We have over 180 million people, and we have a huge population using this plastic. You cannot get easily rid of these without getting a suitable alternative.

“So, our effort now is to try to sensitise people to minimise the use while we look at an alternative solution to the use of plastic. It is when we have gotten a suitable one, that we will consider either restricting or outright ban.

“But for now, we want people to know that these nylon bags and plastic materials we are using so randomly could be harmful to the environment and we need to use them in a more sustainable way.”

This year’s global host for WED is India and theme is “Beat plastic pollution.”