BY EVELYN DADU, ABUJA – The Minister of State for Environment, Sharon Ikeazor and other environmentalists in Nigeria have canvassed for the support of journalists in partnering with the government to publicize information on the Extended Producers Responsibility programme.
Ikeazor, who led other environmentalists at a virtual conference with the theme; “Extended Producer Responsibility Programme under the Circular Economy: Tackling E-Waste,” noted that journalism has been a great tool in promoting important facts, creating awareness and information dissemination among players such as stakeholders, regulated communities.
She said that such a synergy exposes journalists to an avenue of possible collaborations with other agencies.
According to her; “On a daily basis, we can see the news that flood the media on the state of the nation, the economy, the environment and also mismanaged waste, which affects the environment as well.
“It is important to publicize the latest trends, including projects aimed at addressing emerging challenges and also ensuring joint efforts with the media in promoting and protecting the environment for our future generations.
“Nigeria has made a lot of strides in the environmentally sound management of e-waste through the implementation of the EPR programme, but there’s need to do more,” she said.
To achieve this, Ikeazor therefore urged journalists to publicize information on the EPR programme to bring about a change in the ideology of the members of the public towards a sustainable development as well as foster effective environmental governance.
Speaking in turn at the online summit, the United Nation Environment Programme (UNEP) representative, Mr. Feng Weng, who delivered a lecture on: “Circular Economy Approaches for the Electronic Sector in Nigeria,” said that his organization is working with the electronic sector in Nigeria to redesign a system to keep the value of the products and materials in the value-chain with best function in value without polluting the lands, oceans, rivers and air of electronics.
Weng said that gef and UNEP are bringing international experience in the management of e-waste, give inspiration in the advancements of policy work adding that the international institutions can use Nigeria as a role model for other African countries.
He said that work started in June 2019 and will last for another two years, adding that the major components of UNEP’s work is to support the ministry of Environment and National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) to implement the EPR Policy and System, support government to enforce legislation by providing more detailed technical guidance and also learning from other countries and support the private sector to establish and manage a collective system to collect and treat e-waste.
According to Weng; “We will collect 300 tonnes of different electronics from different channels and recycle them.”
He said that his institution supports NESREA to gazette technical guidance for EPR, which gives a clear framework target of how producers should be taking care of e-waste in a very efficient way.
Mr Weng also addressed the need to partner with consumers to help protect the environment.
The UNEP representative hinted that Nigeria is one of the early countries in Africa that introduced legislation on e-waste, including domestic EPR legislation, management, transpondary movement ,control of import and the introduction of license for collectors and recyclers.
An official of EPRON, Mrs Ibukun Faluyi enumerated the role of EPRON in the implementation and value -chain management of the EPR project and the significant role of the media in raising awareness of the EPR project and the work of her organization,at the meeting.
In his keynote address, the Director-General of NESREA, Professor Aliyu Jauro, who spoke on government’s role in the circular economy and the EPR framework, highlighted the provisions of the EPR project, its benefits in the creation of jobs, among other things.
Jauro said that if the EPR programme is properly implemented, it will solve the e-waste management problem in the country, adding however that the implementation of the EPR programme is currently being carried out for three waste streams that include plastics, electrical electronics and batteries.
Also speaking at the summit, Professor Lai Oso, Professor of Communication, University of Lagos, stressed that the capitalist industrial system run by Nigeria seems to contribute largely to the environmental problems in the country. He said that any public initiative needs public support and that underscores the importance of the mass media. In his words; “The media are important tools or instruments of the development process, especially, in national development.”
He also noted that the media in today’s world, are the main mechanism or social institution for the creation and dissemination of public information and knowledge, adding that the media provide the most accessible forum for people to acquire knowledge about what is going on around them.
He further said; “The media perform these functions through news, features articles, editorials, news analysis, cartoons, photographs, virtuals and so on”. Oso however, expressed displeasure at the lopsided coverage of environmental issues in Nigeria, saying; “the environment and issues connected to it, do not attract regular media attention unless there is a problem. Media attention to the environment tends to be crisis or problem-driven”.
He noted that most of the stories in media coverage of environmental issues are tilted towards assigning blames, but when it comes to the real issue of environmental problems, to gather information and learn, there is little coverage of such aspects.
The summit which was moderated by Dr. Mike Omeri, ended with an interactive session of questions and answers.
