Environment
Expert Wants Sensitisation On Dangers Of Indiscriminate Littering
An environmentalist, Mr Emmanuel Emechete, has called for advocacy and sensitisation of Nigerians on the dangers of indiscriminate littering.
Emechete, also a climate change expert made the call in an interview with The Tide source in Lagos.
He said, indiscriminate littering, also known as “trash blindness’’, has adverse effects on the environment and on public health.
“Trash blindness basically implies negligence to trash. It is when individuals choose to litter their environs without considering the negative impact on the atmosphere.
“Basically, to curtail the trash blind tendencies among Nigerians, we need a lot of enlightenment and education on the adverse effect of a polluted environment.
“We need to inform Nigerians on the dangers of indiscriminate littering and the side effects on not just the environment but our health.
“Littering contributes immensely to drainage blockage.
“The government as well as environmental stakeholders must embark on intense advocacy; we need to talk to people about trash issues.
“Once people can understand that trash blindness is a problem, we need to provide an alternative. If you say do not litter indiscriminately, then you need to provide the alternative,’’ he said.
Emechete called for provision of alternatives for trashing waste and not paying lip service to combating trash blindness syndrome by placing sanctions where necessary.
“We need to provide alternatives for people to trash their wastes; we must back our advocacy with actions if we are to solve the syndrome of trash blindness,’’ he said.
The environmentalist urged that waste bins be provided on every street, walkways and commercial buses, among others, with conspicuous signs posted to direct people where to dispose wastes.
He said that arrangement should be put in place for prompt disposal of these waste bins to ensure sanitary condition of the environment.
“The government can also place sanctions against indiscriminate littering and it should be done with caution to avoid abused by the regulators who extort Nigerians.
“Sanctions should not be paramount, but the sensitisation of Nigerians on trash blindness should be on the front burner.
“Recently, we have heard reports of people drowning in floods as a result of blocked drainages which are remote causes of trash blindness.’’
Emechete said that if Nigerians could see the impact of trash blindness on the health, family, wellbeing and even on climate change, they would be more cautious as compared to having fear for sanctions.
“We should start first with enlightenment and education and if it does not work, we can now place sanctions on defaulters.
“Advocacy and provision for alternative trashing of waste should be put in place before the resort to sanctions on indiscriminate littering of waste,’’ Emechete said.
President, Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), Mrs Margaret Oguntala, has inaugurated the construction of 18 units residential terrace in highbrow Alausa area of Lagos toward bridging the nation’s shelter gap.
Ministry of Water Resources and Sanitation has launched the 1GOV Enterprise Content Management System (ECMS) to enhance digital governance and improve service delivery.
The launch, held on Thursday in Abuja, marks the ministry’s transition from paper-based operations to a smart, integrated and technology-driven work environment.
The Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, Prof. Joseph Utsev, said the deployment aligns with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu.
Utsev said the system would improve data management, streamline workflows and strengthen transparency and accountability across the ministry.
According to him, the ECMS will enhance productivity, preserve institutional memory and reduce operational costs in the ministry.
Launching the platform, the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs Didi Walson-Jack, said the initiative is a major step in public sector reform.
She said the ministry’s mandate affects Nigerians through water supply, sanitation, irrigation, river basin development and climate resilience programmes.
Walson-Jack said the 1GOV ECMS enables secure digital records management, automated workflows, electronic approvals and real-time collaboration across MDAs.
She added that the deployment aligns with the Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan 2021–2025 and the directive for full digitalisation by December 2025.
“Effective governance cannot afford delays caused by manual bottlenecks or avoidable inefficiencies,” she said.
She directed that all official correspondence in the ministry must henceforth be processed through approved digital registry channels.
In her remarks, the Permanent Secretary, Dr Emanso Umobong, said the system would eliminate workflow inefficiencies and improve service delivery.
She urged staff to fully adopt the platform and engage in continuous capacity building.
Research shows that local communities and citizens living at the grassroots, particularly women, are directly impacted by the environmental degradation, flooding and others that result from these manifestations.
In the light of this, non-governmental organisation, Ese Usamali Foundation For Rural Development (EUFORDe), has held a forum for women and other members of oil impacted communities, tagged: ‘Voices from the Grassroots,’ and aimed at building their resilience and mitigation efforts against climate change and environmental degradation
The forum, with the theme: ‘Building Resilience for Oil Spill Impacted Ahoada Communities,’ organised with support from Global Green Grants, was held in Ahoada Community, Ahoada East Local Government Area of Rivers State, on December 5, 2025.
Executive Director of Ese Usamali Foundation For Rural Development, Mercy Elemchukwu-James, said women are at the forefront of efforts to mitigate the impact of climate change and environmental degradation.
The event, therefore, was “designed for community women impacted by oil spills, flooding and other environmental degradation,” she said.
Community women were enlightened by resource persons on new opportunities for sustainable agricultural practices and water management techniques that cushion the impact of oil spills.
Lectures were also delivered on Self-care and Trauma-care, with focus on physical and mental health of the population, and increasing access to health-related resources and services; as well as on Food security and women’s critical role in decision making in oil spill and flood situations in communities
Elemchukwu-James pointed out that the event created a forum for stakeholders, civil society actors and others to dialogue on measures at advancing inclusive and sustainable livelihoods of community women.
She stressed the need for collaborative efforts towards achieving mitigation efforts, while underscoring EUFORDe’s commitment to “fostering partnerships as a critical driver for achieving a healthy community and sustainable development.”
Elemchukwu-James described participants’ design of ‘Community Resilience Plan,’ to manage and combat environmental degradation and crises, as part of achievements recorded at the event.
The forum also witnessed the launching of EUFORDs’ Center For Resilience and Rights.
“This center is established to build resilience as Trauma-Care for victims of environmental degradation, support for survivors of Gender Based Violence (GBV) and a platform where victims of environmental injustice and other GBV cases can seek redress,” Elemchukwu-James said.
Participants celebrated the milestones achieved and charted a path toward greater impact in the coming years. They also described the event as “an inspiring and transformative experience.”
Elemchukwu-James said the awareness creation workshop “reaffirms EUFORDe’s mission to create an equitable society in which the rights and capacities of women, youth, children and underprivileged are integrated in the socio-economic planning and development of communities, for the attainment of equity and peace.
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