Nahimat Adekoga
Waste management experts have advocated for an integrated legal framework on waste management to be incorporated into the Nigerian constitution.
The experts urged the Federal government to look inwards by developing the country through effective and efficient waste management.
They made the appeal during a national television programme, Good Morning Nigeria, where they discussed the environmental sanitation and waste management issues across the country.
President, Waste Management Society of Nigeria, Professor Oladele Osinbajo said that Nigeria is in need of an integrated waste management policy that will identify measures to be put in place to have a cleaner and greener environment.
Professor Osinbajo described waste as a valuable resource found in a wrong place, thereby advocating for a paradigm shift from mere waste disposal to effective waste management.
He explained that waste should be given a new look, where the government will see it as a resource that can develop businesses and youths making a living out of it.
“The waste disposed today is a raw material for tomorrow and we must manage it well for the present and future generation’’, he said.
On his part, the General Manager of Kaduna State Environmental Protection Agency, Dr Yusuf Rigasa, said that a solid policy on waste management has to be on ground to guide states and local governments on the methods and modalities of managing waste in each state.
Meanwhile the Acting Director, Abuja Environmental Protection Board, Mrs Omolola Olanipekun, has attributed the indiscriminate waste disposal in the country to people’s attitude, therefore urging  attitudinal change in people from their homes to the public places.
However, the General Manager, Lagos State Waste Management Authority advised the people to always sort their waste into different bags for easy recycling.
