No fewer than 500 containers of wastes tagged used items are dumped in Nigeria monthly without proper screening.
Delivering the annual Adeboye Centre for Peace and Good Governance lecture at the Redeemer’s University, Ede, the former High Commissioner of Nigeria to Australia, Ambassador Ayo Olukanni lamented the indiscriminate dumping of unwanted items that has constituted environmental nuisance to the exporting countries.
Speaking on the topic: “Nigeria and the Politics of Global Environmental Enhancement and Climate Change” Olukanni called for measures that would guide against indiscriminate importation of used materials into the country.
While advocating for the recruitment of more environmentalists to strengthen the sector at various levels of government, the former envoy insisted that the present manpower in the sector is grossly inadequate to tackle environmental problems in the country.
Ambassador Olukanni said underdeveloped and developing countries of the world are the ones paying for climate change because of widespread contagious diseases caused by global warming.
While calling for the use of ecological fund to tackle environmental issues as it affects each state of the federation, Ambassador Olukanni charged states to formulate policies that could solve their environmental problems rather than implement bandwagon policies that would not meet the need of their state.
The Ambassador attributed the explosive rate of cancer patients in the country to negligence on the part of government.
Earlier in his welcome address, the vice chancellor of the institution, Professor Z. Debo Adeyewa lamented that the national economic downturn has taken the issue of real climate change away from Nigeria’s focus.
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