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Opinion

Addressing The Crisis Of E Waste In Our Country

Published

3 years ago

on

Malam YZ Yau

 

By Y. Z. Ya’u, CITAD

Technology enthusiasts like most people are data-selective. When we want to show digital progress, we go for internet penetration figure or the more problematic one of PC and android phone ownership. But another statistical data that could also show progress would be to look at the amount of electronic waste that is generated in the country.

We will normally not use this because it has negative connotation, but it is an important issue to address. It is one of the crucial indicators of unsustainability of current digitization, the others being having to substitute fossil fuel with cleaner energy sources to fire our digital systems and the need to address carbon emission from the digital devices.

Across the country, in major cities and towns, you are likely to be confronted by the eyesore of heaps and pyramid of discarded computer boxes, out of service printers, scanner rollers, bodies of refrigerators, television cases, etc.

All of these constitute what is termed as electronic waste or more simply as eWaste. When electronic devices are no longer serviceable, they have to be thrown away as they are no longer useful. The rate at which this waste is produced is a proxy measure of the consumption of electronic goods.

However, rate of generation of wastes varies with countries that manufacture electronic goods producing far lesser amounts of eWaste than those that merely import for consumption, every other thing being equal, the reason being that imported goods for a number of reasons, have shorter life span than those left in the manufacturing countries.

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The International Telecommunications Union defines eWaste as “items of all types of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) and its parts that have been discarded by the owner as waste” This definition was adapted in Nigeria’s solid waste policy.

However, the definition focuses on hardware items such as monitors, handset, etc. It leaves out the non-tangible eWaste such as heat released from the use of ICT systems. In the context of Nigeria, most ICT users will have their generating sets because of insufficient power supply, the emission from generating sets could be significant, thus can be considered a factor in global warming.

This part of the two-part on eWaste focuses on solid waste.
The increasing pyramid of eWaste across cities in the country is due to two factors. On the one hand is the poor enforcement of the relevant local laws and policies regarding disposal and management of eWaste by the government that that has allowed the importation of second-hand digital devices that are not properly screened, the result of which is that a lot of the import is actually ewaste. On the other hand, because of the collapse of the national currency, imported new digital goods have become generally affordable only to a few people in the country.

This has stimulated the demand for more second digital devices. Since secondhand devices have generally shorter life span, they quickly turn to waste and join the growing heaps of eWaste across the country.
There are three sources of eWaste in Nigeria. The first is the obsolesce of equipment and devices. Of recent, this has increased with the importation of second-hand devices as more and more people cannot afford new ones.

The share of second-hand EEE is significantly increasing in the country. In 2010, a study undertaken for the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) by Ogungbuyi, O, Nnorom, I, C, Osibanjo, and M. Schluep found the share between new and used EEE was about 50%/50%.

This ration must have greatly change with second probably nearly 90% today. The increase in second-hand EEE is driven by low purchasing power and poverty.
The second source is the illegal importation of eWaste. While importation of wastes is illegal, there have been instances of such importation. In 1988, Italy shipped 18,000 barrels of toxic waste marked to a village in Delta State. In 2013, a Ship (MV Marivia) with two containers of eWaste was apprehended. Such importation takes place across the ports and are able to get through because of corruption in the port system and only get exposed due to some disagreement or action of whistleblowers. In this context, it is difficult to estimate the amount of eWaste that gets into the country. In addition, about 30% of second-hand imports were estimated to be non-functioning (therefore need to be declared as e-waste). UNEP report estimated that for 2010, at least 100,000 tonnes of e-waste entered the country illegally.

UNEP survey also found that large quantities of used e-waste are imported with used cars.
A third contributor to ewaste is the local assembly of electronic goods. There are broadly three types of assemblers.

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The first are those who assemble items like refrigerators, radio, etc. The second ones who came to the scene in the 1990s are assembling computers. These are relatively large-scale organizations producing their brand of computers.

The last category consists of small-scale assemblers of non-branded computers. What is common to all the three is that they import completely knocked down parts (CKDs) and assemble them in the country.
There are four common ways of dealing with eWaste. One is the collection of the wastes and incinerating them in specifically designated places.

This seems the easiest but not necessarily the best or the safest. For one, a number of the components of eWaste are neither biodegradable nor fire-destroyable and therefore even after incineration, a lot reminds as waste, occupying space and contributing to continued environmental pollution. In addition, both the emission to the air from the burning of eWaste and the seeping of by-products of the burning into the grounds have serious impact to the environment and therefore leave much to be desired.

A second option that has been used by richer countries is trading in eWaste in which countries with “wasteland” accept eWaste in return for payment from the countries dumping the waste. Nigeria had in the past had received waste as traded item, although now technically importation of waste is banned. Apart from the difficulty of getting a willing buyer, on a global scale this does not address the consequences of eWaste.

The third is built around the concept of recycle, repair and reuse, which requires the recycling for components from eWaste, repairing those that can be repaired and reusing those that can be used for other purposes.

This does not necessarily do away with the waste but rather turn some into useful inputs for either elongating the life span of some digital devices or creating new ones. This in a way serves two dual purposes: reducing the waste and also seeding the circular economy, that reducing consumption of materials for producing electronic goods.

Elongating the life span of devices in general is a response to the challenges of sustainability because it reduces the consumption of non-renewable resources, that are often obtained through environmentally destructive extractive processes that are in the long run not sustainable.
In this sense, while recycling, repair and reuse does not do away with waste per se, it implants a consciousness and practices of the move away from the linear economy of extraction and consumption of materials to a circular economy of repeated use and the uptake of renewable resources.

The 3Rs requires first, an organized and effective system of waste collection, sorting storing. It also requires equipment for pre-processing of wastes. And, finally, it requires skills for the recycling and reuse.

Luckily, in Nigerians, the recycling sub-sector is growing and has in fact transformed from mere concern with health issues to an economic one in which many people are now engaged in recycling as an economic activity. We need government to improve the situation through appropriate policy making.

A fourth strategy is the use of renewable and biodegradable materials for supporting the digital system. This once reduces waste and ensure your that infrastructure is based on sustainable basis. For instance, one of current work in adoption is the move away from steel-based telecommunication towers to ones made from bamboo trees.

Bamboo trees are agricultural product thus both renewable and non-extractive. In addition, wastes from cutting and sizing bamboo are completely biodegradable. This works through careful substitution. Like the 3Rs, government is called upon to support research and experimentation as well innovation to replace extractive components with renewable ones. For instance, it can do a policy to support large scale farming of bamboo in the country and promote its use in the increasing bird-nest of towers in the country.
We also need to challenge device designers and manufacturers to design with the concept of repair and reuse in mind against the current practice of increased decline in the life span of devices and quick to obsolescence that are embedded in current design practices as a means of maximizing profits for investors.

They also need to move from extinctive components to non-extractive. We must also guard against the use of proprietary components which makes it difficult if not impossible, for repairers to substitute components from one manufacturer to device produced by different ones.

In addition to taking the issue of the circular economy serious, the government needs to ensure the effective enforcement of relevant regulations relating to eWaste in the country.

The National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA), an agency of the Ministry was established by law in 2007 with responsibility “for the enforcement of environmental standards, regulations, rules, laws policies and guidelines”. In 2011, the government approved the National Environmental (Electrical/Electronic Sector) Regulations in 2011 as the key tool governing Electrical/Electronic waste in the country. In addition to NESREA, the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) by virtue of the article on equipment type testing, has power to regulate the quality and standards of devices being brought into the country. Also, in pursuant to the provisions of Sections 4, 70, 132 to be in conjunction with Sections 130 and 134 of the Nigerian Communications Act, 2003, NCC has a window to regulate eWaste in the country.

At the moment lots of second hand handsets get into the country through grey routes that escape NCC oversight. Similarly, NESRIA has not found effective ways of dealing with importation of second hand computers that are merely junk.

Finally, government itself needs to do more in this area. Although Nigeria is a signatory to the ITU, it has not taken measures to implement the decisions of the Plenipotentiary Conference of the ITU set in 2018 with respect to adapting recycling of e-waste to contribute to a global total of 30%​​ and have e-waste legislation to 50. It needs to act on this.

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Opinion

Kano North Must Not Get lt Wrong : Why Returning Senator Barau Jibrin CFR is a Strategic Imperative

Published

24 hours ago

on

May 1, 2026

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By Muazu A. Ishaq

In moments of electoral decision, societies are often confronted with a choice that goes beyond sentiments and party affiliation to the deeper question of consolidation and continuity versus disruption, a moment when the electorate must pause, look beyond the noise of detractors and ask a fundamental question; can we afford to make this costly mistake? For the good people of Kano North Senatorial District that moment is now, the coming 2027 electoral cycle presents such a moment one that demands careful reflection, not sentiment. The stakes are not about party loyalty or sentimental rhetoric, it is about avoiding a mistake whose consequences could reverberate for years.

The Deputy President of the Senate, Barau I. Jibrin PhD CFR, has, over time, built a record that is both visible and measurable. His re-election, therefore, is not merely about sustaining a political career; it is about preserving a strategic advantage that Kano North currently enjoys within Nigeria’s national power structure.

As the number five citizen in the country, his position offers the zone direct access to influence, opportunities, and federal preseence, assets that are neither automatic nor easily replaced.

One of the most remarkable aspects of Senator Barau’s stewardship is his deliberate investment in human capital development.
While some politicians are busy sponsoring mudslinging campaigns to tarnish his growing national image, Senator Barau has been busy building a future for Kano youth.

Recently, the first batch of his foreign-trained scholars returned home; 16 graduates in Cyber Security and Forensic Science and 10 graduates in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. These are not ordinary certificates. These are the tools of the 21st-century economy, and they are now in the hands of sons and daughters of Kano North.

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Subsequent batches are on the way. This is a pipeline of excellence. Lose Barau, and you lose the architect of this intellectual revolution.

If anyone doubts the scale of Senator Barau’s grassroots reach, let them examine the events of April 19, 2026. In a continuation of his legendary mega empowerment programmes, the Deputy President of the Senate distributed 47 brand new cars and 282 motorcycles to critical stakeholders and grassroots mobilizers across the 13 LGAs in Kano North including party chairmen, party secretaries, primary school headmasters, and secondary school principals among others. This was a strategic injection of mobility and dignity into the very fabric of the zone’s leadership.

Just five days later, on April 24, 2026, Senator Barau proved that his empowerment is not a one-off event but a continuous process. He announced the continuation of yet another significant programme that was launched previous month; a cash donation of ₦100,000 each to 100 beneficiaries in every single one of the 13 LGAs of Kano North.

Taken together, these initiatives reflect a leadership approach that is both strategic and people-centered. They are not isolated gestures but components of a broader vision aimed at uplifting communities, strengthening institutions, and preparing the next generation for global competitiveness.
It is, therefore, not surprising that such a rising profile at the national level may attract political opposition and attempts at distraction.

However, elections should ultimately be guided by evidence, performance, and the long-term interests of the people not by transient narratives.
Kano North today occupies a position of relevance in Nigeria’s political and developmental landscape. This is not accidental; it is the product of deliberate engagement, years of strategic alliances, and consistent delivery. To risk losing this standing would be to step back from a trajectory of progress that is already yielding results.

The decision before the electorate is therefore clear. It is a choice between consolidating and sustaining democratic gains or starting afresh; between sustained access to national influence or uncertain repositioning. In making that choice, the people must ask themselves a simple question: which path best secures their future?

Avoiding a regrettable mistake requires clarity of purpose and fidelity to facts. The record speaks for itself. Continuity, in this instance, is not just desirable, it is essential.

As Kano North looks ahead, the imperative is to protect its voice, preserve its advantage, and ensure that the momentum of development is not interrupted. Re-electing Senator Barau Jibrin is, therefore, not just a political decision it is a strategic investment in the future of the constituency.

Muazu A. Ishaq
+2348038981655
muazuabdullahi29@gmail.com

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Opinion

DSP Barau and “Abandoned Projects” : An Appraisal

Published

3 days ago

on

April 29, 2026

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By Abba Anwar

Only those who know and understand the sluggish nature of budget implementation under different administrations, can understand whether projects are deliberately abandoned by their initiators and facilitators. Or whether the onus is on the pattern of implementation and implementors.

If Kaduna Eastern Bypass, initiated 2002, Abuja-Lokoja highway started in 2006, Kano-Maiduguri of 2007, Sokoto – Tambuwal- Jega-Kontagora, flagged – off in 2009, Abuja-Minna of 2010, among other abandoned federal projects, are not marked as noise making hubs, why then is Kano-Gwarzo-Dayi, that was flagged – off in June, 2021, can deliberately be tagged as point of condemnation by noise makers?

Kano-Gwarzo-Dayi federal road, as facilitated by the Deputy President of the Senate, His Excellency Barau I Jibrin, CFR, since 2021, though abandoned at a point, up to January, 2026, the work has resumed since February, 2026, this year.

Senator Jibrin worked hard and made sure that, the sum of Thirty Seven Billion Naira (N37,000,000,000) only was appropriated in 2026 Appropriation Bill, which has now become Act. After that he also pushed, very well for the additional Six Billion and Three Hundred Million Naira (N6, 300,000,000) only.

Unlike DSP’s facilitated federal road project of Kano-Gwarzo-Dayi, which was flagged – off in 2021, as contractors are back to site, since February, this year, there are many abandoned federal road projects, scattered around the country, whose resumption of work, with so many of the projects, is still elusive.

Such as Makurdi-Naka-Adoka-Ankpa federal road flagged – of in 2012, Calabar-Itu-Ikot Ekpene, of 2010, Benin-Sapele-Warri road, which was flagged – off in 2009, Enugu – Onitsha road, of 2013, Kano-Katsina dualization project, that was started in 2013, as contractor left in 2022, among many other abandoned federal roads.

Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano federal road is another case of study, in this context. The project has been in limbo for many years, with touch-and-go strategy.

So to me, castigating or rather blaming DSP for this singular Kano-Gwarzo-Dayi road is either premature or not necessary at all. In his own case, the work has resumed. And look at what he pushed to be reflected in 2026 national budget. Which has already become, 2026 Appropriation Act.

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Another constituency project for DSP Jibrin, is E-learning Centres across 5 local governments from his Kano North Senatorial District, in collaboration with National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), was facilitated by the Senator in 2015.

The Centres are across 5 local governments, Tofa, Gwarzo, Kabo, Bichi and Dambatta.

Some people erroneously blame the Senator, advancing that, the E-learning Centres were abandoned by him, since 2015, which, according to them, shows his “negligence” over his constituency. As a matter of fact, the truth of the matter is this, all the 5 E-learning Centres were converted to become Study Centres for National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN). Amongst other locations from the remaining local governments that constitute Kano North Senatorial District.

Another great project that some are blaming His Excellency DSP is Barau Initiative for Agricultural Revolution in the North West (BIARN). Many things were said about it by opponents. But the truth of the matter is this, that the project is yet to take-off fully due to the issue of cash flow from the end of the partner agency. Which is Bank of Agriculture (BOA).

Coincidentally I came across a press statement issued by the
Special Adviser to the Deputy President of the Senate on Media and Publicity, Ismail Mudashir, narrating that, the Chairman of the Initiative, Prof. Bashir Fagge Muhammad, disclosed that, “Following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the BOA management, applicants were invited to participate in the initiative. However, implementation was stalled due to challenges relating to cash flow.”

As the programme was unveiled March, 2025, it aims to revolutionise agriculture and encourage young Nigerian graduates to venture into farming.

Part of the statement reads, “Specifically, the programme was designed to empower 558 young farmers with loans ranging from N1 million to N5 million for rice and maize cultivation across the seven North West states in line with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda on food security and youth empowerment.”

Adding that, “Applicants are therefore urged to remain patient, as the Board of the Initiative, under the chairmanship of Professor Bashir Fagge Muhammad, is working closely with the BOA management to resolve the issue.”

So we can now understand that the programme is not, and can never be, abandoned, as some started speculating while peddling rumors around.

It is not the intention of this piece to start cataloging DSP’s long standing achievements as the Senator representing Kano North, in many areas of human endeavor.

From his Scholarship scheme where hundreds of students were sponsored for their undergraduate studies, across Nigerian universities and dozens, who were sponsored for Postgraduate studies abroad, as some completed their studies and started coming back. As thousands students from his constituency are given scholarship for their upkeep. Not to talk of his intervention in all other areas of education.

I’m not cataloging his intervention in the security sector. As he is the single individual from across North West whose intervention in the sector supersedes that of many. A Senator like no other.

His effort in sports development is unmatched. Apart from aiding football clubs and players, his completion of stadium in each of the 13 local governments under his constituency, is something to write home about.

All his interventions in such areas will come our way shortly.

Anwar writes from Kano
Wednesday, 29th April, 2026

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Opinion

The Ink Dried Up: An Open Letter to Matthew Hassan Kukah-Prince Daniel Aboki

Published

4 days ago

on

April 28, 2026

By

 

Dear Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah

I write you with the utmost sense of respect.

Permit me to begin by congratulating you. Not in the usual way, but in a manner that reflects a keen observation of recent developments in our country. Since the emergence of Bola Ahmed Tinubu as President, and coincidentally since your assumption of office as Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Council of Federal University of Applied Sciences Kachia, there appears to have been a remarkable shift in the narrative of insecurity across Nigeria.

From Zamfara State to Sokoto State, Katsina State, Benue State, Plateau State, Kwara State, and indeed across several troubled parts of our nation, one might be tempted to conclude that the k!llings have suddenly come to an end. The silence is striking. The headlines have softened. The urgency has waned.

It is this very contrast that compels this letter.

You will recall, Bishop, your powerful and courageous interventions during the administration of Muhammadu Buhari. Your voice rang loud through a series of open letters that captured national attention and stirred both conscience and controversy.

On Christmas Day, December 25, 2018, you wrote with piercing clarity about a nation drifting, warning of a “nation at w@r with itself.”

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Again, on December 25, 2019, your message, “A Nation in Search of Vindication,” questioned the moral and political direction of leadership, calling attention to bloodshed and division.

On December 25, 2020, in “A Nation in Search of Peace,” you spoke even more bluntly, addressing the worsening insecurity and the growing despair among Nigerians.

And on December 25, 2022, your letter once again raised concerns about governance, justice, and the value of human life in Nigeria.

These interventions were not just letters. They were moral signposts. They reminded leadership of its duty and the nation of its conscience.

It is against this backdrop that your current silence, or perhaps restraint, becomes more noticeable.

Has the situation improved so dramatically that the urgency of those words is no longer required?

Have the forests suddenly emptied?
Have the highways become safe?
Have the cries of victims ceased?

Or is it that the burden of national admonition must shift depending on who occupies the seat of power?

Lord Bishop, sir, your voice has always carried weight not because it was loud, but because it was consistent. Not because it was critical, but because it was principled.

Nigeria still needs that voice.

Not selectively. Not occasionally. But steadfastly.

If indeed peace has returned to the troubled lands of Zamfara, Sokoto, Katsina, Benue, Plateau, Kwara, and beyond, then you deserve commendation for witnessing such a transformation. But if, as many still believe, the reality on the ground has not changed as dramatically as the silence suggests, then your voice is needed now as much as it was then. Unless there is something we are not seeing that you would want us to see, could it be a case of “Tinubu I love, Buhari I hate”? Or should we begin to wonder whether conviction has given way to convenience?

Bishop, sir, would you recommend that we keep silent when we benefit and speak up only when we do not?

Over time, we have seen that history is kinder to those who remain constant in truth than to those who are convenient in silence.

I write not in condemnation, but in expectation.

Prince Daniel a Concerned Citizen and Head of cool Wazobia And Arewa Radio on Kano

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