Don Expresses Concern Over e-Waste

Following the increasing
volume of electronic waste in the country, a university lecturer, Engr Ikechi Igwe, has expressed concern over the situation and its policies.
Igwe, who lectures with The Rivers State University of Science and Technology (RSUST), Port Harcourt told The Tide in an exclusive interview on Wednesday in Port Harcourt that policies would pose a challenge is not properly handled.
He said the policies are in consonance with digitalisation  and Information Communication Technology (ICT) in terms of e-waste management.
According to him, the country would experience high volume of waste as a result of the movement from the analogue to digital system.
He stressed that the Federal Government must expand its grounds as to handle the challenges that the system may generate.
He also said that some of the e-waste are internally generated while others are from outside the country.
It would be recalled that the country pegged 2015 as deadline for its digitalisation policy.
Igwe also pointed out that Nigeria was the highest generator of e-waste, adding that the rise was due to its ICT policy.
One of such policies he said was that of a computer per child and everybody going into ICT.
He further reasoned that the ICT/digitalization policy may encourage a level of mental laziness among young people over what he described as over dependency on internet.
Furthermore, the varsity don mentioned dearth of infrastructure to manage the e-waste as one of the strongest challenges the country may face.
He, however, reiterated that the ICT development was the best innovation of this present century.