By Ogeyi Ebinyi
The Lagos State Government, Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources, and Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency recently engaged professionals, students, and stakeholders in a statewide awareness and sensitisation seminar on the impacts of untreated effluent and air pollutants on the environment, highlighting the need for change. The program was carried out under the theme “Treat your industrial waste responsibly and protect our environment for a sustainable future”.
In the program held on Tuesday, 25th of November in Lagos, the General Manager, Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency LASEPA, Dr Babatunde Ajayi, highlighted the importance of engaging stakeholders twice a year to discuss environmental issues.
In his words “Effluent from manufacturers of drinks is biological effluent that contains bacteria when they find there way into the wrong sources, it can cause cholera in communities. So there is a direct correlation between health and environment.
“Up to 25% of all diseases that show up in the hospital are directly caused by the environment, you can not separate the environment from Health” he stated.
Engr. Antonio Ayodele, former GM(LASEPA) who was also present at the event, gave a lecture on a sustainable approach to Effluent and air pollutants management in Lagos state. He went ahead to give emphasis on government expectations from manufacturers, saying they are responsible for their waste, when you produce A from B you now have C and D as waste, and should treat it or go through research to know that industry K and F can use it as their own raw material.
“Our food particles in the house are waste but those who do animal husbandry pack it to give their animals, even if someone comes to pack it, is your responsibility to monitor what the person is doing with it because if there is problem consequences of that waste coming from you, you would be liable as well as the person” he noted.
Also speaking was Dr. Omowumi Olatunji, MD, CEO Brightest Hope Engineering Services Limited, a sponsor of the programme, mentioned that industries are trying, but still relatively low in percentage.
The event ended with much insights from experts and call to action for all stakeholders and participants.
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