In a country with little participation of the private sector in the lives of the citizens, Phillips Obuesi, the Chief Executive of the Statewide Waste and Environmental Education Foundation is leading a major campaign to a sustainable future in Africa’s most populous country.
Addressing a forum at Anambra State, southeast Nigeria, Obuesi maintained that any effort at successful waste disposal must involve the citizens.
In spite of the good intentions of government in sanitation programs, the SWEEP executive said, the country’s environment continued to be littered with waste, which supports his contention that the solution was beyond arbitrary arrests, fines, and prosecution of citizens who allegedly violate sanitation rules.
Barrister Obuesi noted that a cursory evaluation of the many suggested solutions to Waste management and disposal Challenges in Anambra State exposes the consistent absence of Citizens involvement in the calculation of policy makers.
According to him, the Government mindset of attempting to do the job itself, or legislate sustainable waste management compliance remains at the root of its failure to address the lingering challenge.
The role of Citizens involvement is not just in raising public awareness for waste management, but it establishes a trust relationship between government, the people and the environment, Obuesi concluded.
