The Northeast Development Commission, NEDC has commenced training of youths on waste-to-wealth training programme in Bauchi, Gombe and Adamawa states aimed to take off the idling youths on the streets.
NEDC Head of Environment and Natural Resources, Adamu Lawan said yesterday in Gombe that no fewer than 1,000 youths and Kalari boys are to be taken off the streets through its waste-to-wealth training programme embarked upon by the commission.
He said at the commencement of “One Week Training in Efficient Waste Management Practices and A-Z of recycling” said the programme is designed to address the insecurity problems plaguing the Northeast and empower the youth in Gombe State so that they can give meaning to their lives and society.
“50 youths who will train another 100 youths will benefit from the train-the-trainer programme which started yesterday in Gombe.
“We have two layers of this training. First is the train-the-trainers who are 50 in number and second is the scavengers who will be 100. The train-the-trainers are mostly graduates and NCE holders who have certificates but the scavengers are made up of Kalari Boys. We want to pull them off the streets and get them engaged so that they will be able to earn living through the waste-to-wealth programme.
“The programme will be extended to the senatorial districts and the local government areas with the intention of having recycling plants where the recycling materials will be taken to and recycled for more useful purposes,” he said.
Adamu added that the scavengers will be trained in how to know those waste that are recyclable and those that are not recyclable and what to do about them.
The State Director-General and Focal Person for NEDC, Malam Shehu Yerima Abdulahi said the state government has a symbiosis relationship with the NEDC which has brought about collaboration in all NEDC programmes.
“The relationship between the state government and the NEDC is a work in progress and we cannot thank them more. We are always grateful to the NEDC, they are always at hand. Of course, the state government is always at hand too to ensure that the NEDC succeeded in all its developmental activities in the state,” he said.
He said the state government is planning to integrate the trained youths into the activities of the Gombe State Environmental Protection Agency, (GOSEPA) so that they can have a joint venture.
According to him, there is a ready market for recycled materials in the state because most of the plastic and rubber products from Kano and Lagos are from recycled materials.
“The materials used in producing those plastic and rubber products are no longer hundred per cent virgin materials. Forty per cent is recycled materials and 60 per cent is virgin materials. So, the market is already there,” he said.
A Professor of Environmental Resources Management from the Federal University Kashere, Prof. Umar Mohammed said one of the major problems in the country is the issue of waste management.
He added that the existing established authorities are handicapped and lack the technical capabilities and resources to maintain efficient waste management.
He said there is a huge wealth in waste management which cannot be quantified and which made the scavengers earn more than the people in the formal sector.
Also, in Adamawa State, the commission has commenced a week-long training programme yesterday in Yola, the state capital for 150 young men and women in waste disposal skills.
The training held at the Federal College of Education (FCE) Yola auditorium in Jimeta, Yola is being handled by a consulting firm, Hifindahl-Idex that will provide resources for people while the NEDC will provide the fund for the programme.
The objectives of the training were articulated by Mrs Fatima Bakari who represented the NEDC at the opening of the “One Week Training for Youths on Efficient Waste Management and Practices and A-Z of Recycling.”.
“The 150 participants comprise 50 people already into recycling and termed trainers who are supposed to be further enabled to spread their knowledge to their communities, as well as 100 fresh waste disposal practitioners termed scavengers who are to be impacted with waste disposal and recycling skills,” she added.
The Adamawa State Commissioner for Environment and Natural Resources Development, Alhaji Shuaibu Audu, said in a message that training in better waste handling is vital.
Represented by his Permanent Secretary, Mr Cletus Gwatel, the commissioner said: “The rate of waste generation has increased tremendously and unfortunately the method by which the waste is handled is too poor”.
In Bauchi, the NEDC, in partnership with Bauchi State Government has commenced training of 100 youths who are mainly waste scavengers on effective waste management.
A representative of the commission at a one week training workshop which kicks off in Bauchi yesterday, Dr Muhammad Sanusi Ibrahim said the NEDC organized the training to acquaint the participants, particularly scavengers, with the new development in the waste to wealth scheme.
According to him, the main focus of the training is to educate the participants on change of attitude toward waste generation in the waste to wealth project through the 3Rs which are reducing waste, reusing waste, and recycling waste.
“The NEDC is also partnering with the Bauchi State Government to have a workable recycling plant in the state, the trainees will be trained by the NEDC to improve their scavenging skills to boost the economy and create more job opportunities in the state,” he said.
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Environment, Suleiman M. Babaji said the workshop is not only aimed at training the youth on how to harness this waste and convert them to wealth but also boosting their capacity by taking them through the fundamental principles of how it is done in a safe way.
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