By Chioma Iruke
Minister of State for Nigeria’s capital city, Dr Ramatu Aliyu has disclosed that the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) spends about N8 billion annually on waste management.
The minister made the disclosure in a statement issued by her Special Assistant on Media, Mr Austine Elemue, on Sunday in Abuja.
The statement said the minister spoke at the maiden edition of the Annual General Meeting and Induction of Waste Management Association of Nigeria (WAMASON), FCT Council, in Abuja.
The minister was quoted as saying that the Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB) spent an average of N6 billion, while the Satellite Towns Development Department (STDD) expended N2 billion on waste management annually.
Aliyu said this brought the total sum of N8 billion to pay over 64 cleaning contractors, engaged in the management of waste in the nation’s capital.
She called on communities to adopt sustainable waste management practices, “which include sorting at source, composting of organic waste for horticultural/agricultural purposes amongst others.”
Speaking on the theme: “Waste management in a circular economy, financing stakeholders engagement and enforcement,” Aliyu also called for the transition to circular economy for sustainable growth and development in Nigeria.
She said that in a circular economy virtually nothing was discarded, stressing that products and materials were kept in circulation.
“It is clear that waste management is a cross-cutting environmental issue, impacting many aspects of our society and the economy.
“It has strong linkages to a range of other global challenges such as health, food and resource security, sustainable consumption and production, climate change and poverty reduction,” Aliyu said in the statement.
She said the FCT Administration had been working assiduously in ensuring that new opportunities for sustainable growth were provided through increased budgetary provisions on waste management related services.
“Presently, we have a total number of 64 waste management contractors in the FCC and Satellite Towns.
“This has provided employment opportunities and improved environmental sanitation through resource recovery, sorting and collection of recyclable for the informal waste pickers.
“As well as providing a platform for generation of empirical data for proper planning and projection of waste amount in the FCT,” she said.
Aliyu, therefore, called for synergy and understanding between the government and the private sector in ensuring effective and profitable waste management.
