FG Must Check Influx Of Ewastes Into The Country

Federal government must as matter of urgency check the importation of electronic waste into the country. Electronic waste otherwise eWaste dumping in the country had become a cause for concern because such waste contained carcinogenic radioactive materials that could be hazardous to health.

A carcinogen is any substance, radionuclide, or radiation that is an agent directly involved in causing cancer. This may be due to the ability to damage the genome or to the disruption of cellular metabolic processes.

Nigeria is an attractive destination for eWaste for many reasons including; Nigerians penchant for cheap electronic products. Citing a recent report, Jumia Travel said that, “Nigeria dangerously consumes technologies which have 90% foreign input and a paltry 10% local input.”

Also; Nigeria has many non-performing government agencies as a result most goods brought in through Nigerian are not checked. And if most goods entering this country are not checked, you can only imagine how many of them are e-waste.

Others are corruption at the port; as well as Nigeria’s lack of manufacturing capacity. On the way forward, Prof. Umar Danbatta, executive vice chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), has solicited for a coordinated effort that will see Nigeria getting rid of all forms of electronic waste.

“We are calling on all stakeholders in the telecom and tangential sectors, including operatives of agencies in the security governance sector to collaborate and rid Nigeria of electronic waste (e-Waste) which includes irreparable and obsolete devices,” he said.

Citing a recent report by the World Economic Forum, Danbatta affirms that electronic waste is now the fastest-growing waste stream in the world – and because that genre of waste is non-biodegradable (like polythene of packaged water, popular called pure water) – it is time stakeholders took concrete implementable actions to arrest the proliferation of electronic wastes.

Nodding in agreement, Chigbo Okaka, an environmentalist, said that called on government to stick to its regulation to check the importation of electronic waste to the country. “There is a regulation and if this is followed, there will be no problem because if the regulation says you do not just bring in those things because they are already used and outdated, they are dangerous and you don’t bring such things to the country and if people are caught, they should face the law. That is the only way to check it.” He added.

Source: Commsweek