An Environmentalist, Mr Gafar Odubote, on Tuesday called for the inclusion of waste education in the nation’s academic curriculum to address pollution in the country.
Odubote, a representative of `Let’s Do It Nigeria’, a group which specialised on environmental matters, made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.
According to him, it is important we advocate for a circular economy, which in essence is “waste management circular economy,” that will result in waste reduction in the country.
He called for the proper utilisation of the country’s limited resources to reduce waste.
“Recently, the Federal Ministry of Environment set in place the plan to ban plastic waste in the country. This in essence is to reduce the rate of plastic pollution in Nigeria.
“However, one area we are not getting it right in curbing plastic pollution is the area of appropriate waste education of the public.
“Waste education is yet to be introduced into our educational curriculum and that is one of the main differences between us and the developed countries.
“Waste education has been introduced to citizens of most developed countries right from childhood. It is embedded in their curriculum; they understand how to sort waste and what the values of waste are,’’ Odubote said.
He said that citizens of most developed countries understood the importance of consumption and waste reduction.
“They understand that what we consume affects the environment and even creates negative climate change effects,” the expert said.
Odubote called for collaboration between the Federal Ministries of Education and Environment, to ensure the teaching of Nigerians in proper waste management.
“We hope for a situation where the Ministries of Environment and Education can work hand in hand, to see how they can entrench waste education into our system.
“The older generation in the country is so oblivious and lack in-depth understanding of the dangers of improper waste management on the environment.
“It is time we focus on the next generation and see how we can start training them on proper waste management and the impact it has on our clime.
“We have currently gotten approval through the states’ Ministry of Environment from the Ministry of Education, to educate pupils on waste management in some schools around Maryland area in Lagos.
“Aside this, I think there is a need to have waste management education in our educational curriculum from nursery to secondary schools to sensitise Nigerians against ‘Trash Blindness’,” Odubote noted.
According to him, the waste education course should centre on waste management and resource utilisation, to easily achieve circular economy as a country.
“We have a lot of resources in Nigeria but we do not really know how to manage them; and that has to do with poor education,” he said.
Odubote said that sustainability had to do with how we could manage our resources.
“People must know from their homes how to sort waste; they must know what the dangers of plastic pollution are.
“They should know the different grades of plastic and the proper disposal.
“We must also understand how to properly compose waste and reduce it. These are the things environmental stakeholders need to look out for in sensitising the public,” he said.
