The recent workshop on environmental protection organised for Health, Safety and Environment officers from public institutions and private companies in Delta State, has exposed a major lacuna in waste management system in the country. The one-day seminar, which was held in Asaba and attended by critical stakeholders from the academia, private operators, civil society, and government had raised alarm over lack of reliable data on waste generation and management in the country. Dr Ijeoma Owamah of Delta State University, Abraka, who was keynote speaker, lamented the absence of reliable data on waste generation and effective waste management in the country. “We have not started managing solid wastes. What we do is that we gather solid wastes from the domain of the rich and then take them to the domain of the poor”, she said.
She was corroborated by an Environmental Management Consultant, Prof. Arthur Essaghah, who identified occupational safety and environmental health training as measures required to address the impact of industrial pollution on the environment.
We cannot agree less with the views on relevance of reliable data for environmental waste management and the impact of health safety training which Delta State Commissioner for Environment, Godspower Asiuwhu, said expose stakeholders to “modern technique and the knowledge of what is happening in the environment”.
There is no denying the fact that development policy especially on critical issues of the environment ought to be predicated on unassailable data for effective implementation and sustainable development. Hence, public officers in charge of waste management must be on abreast of data and issues that affect their sector. Few days ago, the Managing Director of Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA), Ibrahim Odumboni, disclosed that the State generates 13,000 metric tonnes of waste daily. Information as basic as this is germain for determining the frequency of waste collection and disposal in major cities across the country. We are convinced that some of the environmental challenges including flood would be managed more effectively if there were reliable data at the stage of planning. Government and other stakeholders must make conscious efforts to obtain reliable data for sustainable waste management in Nigeria.