The Federal Government of Nigeria in support of the Government of France in partnership with Agence Francaise De Developpement (AFD) together has launched Gap Analysis Report of The Solid Waste Management Sector In Nigeria, Database User Guide Manual And National Roadmap On Solid Waste Management In Nigeria.
The Minister of Environment, Mohammed H Abdullahi, on Wednesday in Abuja, at the unveiling ceremony asserted that the gap analysis of the solid waste management sector in Nigeria, Database User Guide Manual and National Roadmap on Solid Waste Management in Nigeria will be employed in all the sectors, including the engagement of stakeholders in solid waste management across the country.
According to Abdullahi, that this will fast track sustainable development in the country, adding that Nigeria, with a population of 200 million people, generates about 1.5million tons of plastic wastes every year of which only 10% is being recycled.
The minister further lamented that the problem of pollution in the country is exacerbated by inadequate waste management infrastructure, poor behavioural attitude, unskilled waste collection workforce, indiscriminate dumping and burning of plastic wastes, poor awareness, inadequate funding among others.
“It is against this background that we welcome this Technical Assistance to support the Federal Management Framework on Solid Waste.
“The Technical Assistance is part of a series of actions being undertaken by the government to address the challenges of solid waste in the country in a holistic and sustainable manner, particularly in our quest for alternatives to drive investment in the right direction and support sustainable development objectives to which Nigeria subscribes,” he said.
Abdullahi reiterated that the Technical Assistance project which commenced in 2020, had attained all expected deliverables, including the engagement of National and Sub-National stakeholders for effective Solid Waste Management in Nigeria.
“It is therefore, a thing of great joy to me that despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the study was successfully carried out and validated by stakeholders and it is now ready for unveiling,” he said.
He added that the project had delivered a lot of capacity building workshops for state and federal level actors on; waste collection and transportation, dumpsite management, waste recycling/ recovery waste wise cities, and Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR).
In her goodwill message, French Ambassador to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Mrs Emmanuelle Blatmann, commended the minister for the hardwork and for all the implementation together, alongside with its teams.
The French Envoy said the different outputs also stressed the need to implement a progressive policy, adding that this would ensure the key steps such as sustainable waste collection and robust solid waste treatment units were a priority before any large scale infrastructure investment project was considered.
She added that structuring in order to improve the value chain while also improving the social sanitary and environmental conditions would lead to sustainability.
“And I think it demonstrates once again our commitment to support a company Nigeria in its efforts towards a green trajectory, in line with Nigeria’s national determined contributions and the Paris Agreement on climate change.
“Implementation of a robust solid waste management framework will have many positive impacts, whether it is on health or greenhouse gas emissions reduction on biodiversity and environment as a whole,” she stated.
Also, the AFD County Director to Nigeria, Mr Xavier Muron, described the project as very important to the environment as a whole, adding that it was basically to be 100% compliant with the Paris Agreement.
He said whatever project and activities of finance, that these projects should be compliant with the Paris objective.
He added that it would help in combating climate change, preserving biodiversity and reducing gas emission.
