By Rasheeda Hamidu
The Rural Women Energy Security Initiative (RUWES) has called on Nigeria to “turn recognition into policy” for waste pickers, saying government must back verbal praise with laws on safety and healthcare.
Mrs Jumaima Ella, Head of Secretariat at RUWES Nigeria, made the call on Monday while delivering a goodwill message as Special Guest at the inauguration of the Waste Pickers Association of Nigeria (WAPAN) Advisory Council in Abuja.
“Congratulations to WAPAN, to the new Council members, and to every waste picker whose labor keeps our cities breathing. Today, your voice has a table,” Ella said.
Mrs Ella who said waste pickers “turn waste into wealth” by collecting discarded PET plastics and other trash, selling it and feeding their families, noted that “what looks like useless waste becomes wealth in their hands”.
Contrasting informal praise with formal action, she declared: “Right now people sometimes say ‘thank you’ or call them names like ‘scavengers’, ‘Yan Bola’. That’s recognition. But policy means real rules + action from government.”
She listed four policy priorities: provision of safety gear, fair prices to prevent cheating by middlemen, ID cards to stop police harassment, and healthcare for work injuries.
“You waste pickers are already doing important work that makes money and cleans Nigeria. Now the Government needs to start making real laws that protect you and pay you fairly,” Ella said.
Ella said RUWES and WAPAN were “not starting a conversation” but “strengthening one we have already begun together.” She cited RUWES’ 2025 World Environment Day _Waste to Wealth Initiative_, themed _‘Plastic Waste, The Currency for Women Empowerment’_, launched with the Federal Ministry of Environment.
Through a partnership with Environmental Expressions Ltd, RUWES is setting up Women Plastic Collection Centres across several states in collaboration with State Ministries of Environment, she said. The centres aim to make rural women plastic waste pickers “not out of desperation, but for remuneration.”
“We are proving that what society discards can become a dignified livelihood for women,” Ella added.
RUWES pledged to share learnings from its collection centres once fully operational and to explore with the new Council “how to scale protection, pricing, and policy for waste pickers — especially women.”
Addressing the new Advisory Council, Ella said: “May your decisions turn recognition into income, and income into dignity. May every waste picker in Nigeria feel the impact of your leadership.”
She congratulated WAPAN, reiterating that “the future is circular, and it is female.”
The WAPAN Advisory Council was inaugurated to provide institutional direction and strategic mentorship for Nigeria’s waste pickers, who are estimated to number over 200,000 nationwide.
Members of the Council include His Highness, Alhaji Muhammad Yusuf, Sa’in Lere as Chairman, Mrs Amaka Onyemelukwe of Coca-Cola Foundation, Engr. Prof. Abdulhameed Danjuma Mambo of Nile University of Nigeria, Engr. Haydar Mijinyawa of FOSSREA, Engr. Mansur Ahmed, former Group Executive Director of Dangote Industries Limited.
Others are Alhaji Ali Sabo Yakasai, member of the Board of Trustees of WAPAN, Hajia Ladi Katagum, former Executive Secretary of Nigerian Investment Promotion Council, Ms Funto Borofice, Founder/CEO of Chanja Datti, Mrs Agharese Lucia Onaghise, Executive Director of ERRA, Comrade Salisu Ali Yarima, WAPAN President, and Alhaji Suleiman Adama as Secretary to the Council.
In his keynote address, the Dean of Environment Sciences, Nile University Abuja, Prof. Abdulhameed Danjuma Mambo noted that advisory structures are essential for ensuring strong governance, policy alignment, and sustainable growth.
He added that such frameworks would help scale impact and align with national and global sustainability goals.
The event was graced by many stakeholders including Engr (Dr.) Bahijjatu Abubakar, Director of Pollution Control, Federal Ministry of Environment; Mrs. Hannatu Ibrahim, Director of Environment, AMAC, Mr.
Aliu Akoshile, Publisher/Editor-in-Chief, NatureNews, Dr. Emmanuel Akeh, Director of Abuja Secretariat, NACCIMA, and RUWES Head of Secretariat, Mrs Jumaima Ellah.
In his acceptance remarks, the Chairman of the Council, HH Alhaji Muhammad Yusuf, Sa’in Lere, pledged that the Advisory Council would provide strategic direction to support WAPAN’s vision of building a more organised, impactful, and economically productive waste management system in Nigeria.
