By Abbas Nazil
The Young Advocates for a Sustainable and Inclusive Future (YASIF), the Federal Ministry of Environment, and other civil society groups have urged for nationwide reorientation and public awareness campaigns to strengthen Nigeria’s waste management sector and unlock its economic potential.
The call was made on Friday, September 20, 2025, after a cleanup exercise in Karonmajiji, a community on the outskirts of Abuja, as part of activities marking World Cleanup Day.
YASIF described waste as wealth and stressed that if Nigerians understood this truth, the country would be more than halfway to solving its waste disposal challenges while meeting sustainability goals.
YASIF founder, Blessing Ewa, said her organisation had earlier sensitised local women on recycling and upcycling, with many now generating income from producing items out of sachet water bags.
Some women reportedly earned more than N150,000 each from sales, turning what was once considered waste into valuable products.
Ewa noted that this initiative not only empowered women financially but also positioned them as agents of environmental sustainability.
Supporting the idea, Lawrence Okechukwu of the Federal Ministry of Environment stressed the importance of changing the stereotype that waste is useless, adding that reorientation should be prioritised over strict punishment for offenders, given the poverty levels of many communities.
Similarly, Rita Nnaji of NESREA highlighted existing regulations and penalties but emphasised that awareness and education should come first, encouraging communities to form local task forces for monitoring and enforcement.
Zainab Musa, the women’s leader of Karonmajiji, expressed gratitude for the cleanup exercise and training, saying over 50 women participated and gained skills that now generate income for their households.
She urged the government and stakeholders to support YASIF with resources to expand their reach.
Environmental experts remarked that promoting sustainability requires communities to see themselves not as victims but as advocates, since collective participation is the only way to achieve a clean and safe environment.
