As Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, raised the alarm on the environmental impact of the wastage of food Nigerians prepare, the federal government announced it would implement a ban on the use of plastic bags in the country beginning from January next year.
Speaking through his deputy, Mrs. Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, at the opening of this year’s World Environment Day in Ikeja, Fashola noted that Nigeria’s daily food wastage had occurred to the detriment of environmental wellness, contributing greatly to global warming across the world. According to Fashola, ‘The staggering amount of food wasted in the country is wholly unacceptable and a huge drain on the country’s precious resources. Wasting food just makes no sense in a resource constrained world; economically, environmentally and ethically, and this wastage occurs because many producers, retailers and consumers discard food that is still fit for human consumption in the country that is why Nigerians must make informed choices in buying and consuming.’
The governor commented that food wastage ‘also leads to squandering of resources such as fertilisers, pesticides and fuel used for transportation. The vast amount of food going to landfills, thus creating more methane, which makes a significant contribution to the current global warming. Methane is the most harmful greenhouse gases that contribute to the climate change. And when the climate is affected, it will affect food production in the country especially in a country like ours where agriculture plays a major role in the economy.’
Meanwhile, at this year’s World Environment Day celebration in Abuja, Minister of Environment Mrs. Hadza Mailafia explained that the federal government would replace the nylon bags with paper bags. She noted that plastic bags have been associated with numerous hazards to human wellbeing, and environmental wellness, as they could stay in the soil for several years –contaminating and destroying the environment. The upcoming implementation of paper bags, on the other hand, could reduce this impact, as paper bags can easily decompose after being dumped. The minister appealed to Nigerians for understanding, adding that sensitisation campaigns would be carried out between now and the end of the year before the commencement of the ban in January.
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