The Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) has pledged technical support to Kogi State in its efforts to establish a robust waste management system.
This promise was given by the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of LAWMA, Mr. Ibrahim Odumboni, while receiving the Kogi State Commissioner for Environment and Natural Resources, Mr. Victor Adewale Omofaiye, and his team, who were on a fact-finding visit to the Agency and its waste management facilities.
The Managing Director expressed LAWMA’s readiness to support the efforts of Kogi State to set up a proper waste management structure for the good of Kogi environment, its people and visitors alike.
The LAWMA boss noted that the visit offered the visitors from Kogi State an opportunity to witness the waste management processes and innovative ideas being adopted by the Authority to tackle day-to-day challenges of waste management in Lagos State.
He further informed the visiting team that the Authority would soon launch an educational initiative called “LAWMA Academy”, with the sole purpose of imparting waste management knowledge to the younger generation, advising the delegation to explore the idea of setting up recycling clubs and similar programmes in schools to lay a solid foundation for waste management in Kogi State.
Also addressing the team was the Chief Technical Officer of LAWMA, Dr. Olohunwa Tijani, who listed generation, collection and disposal as the key components of the waste management process in any geographical location.
He stressed that proper management of those components was essential to having an effective waste management system.
He added that, in order to achieve their goal of a cleaner and healthier State, the waste management system should be purpose-driven and devoid of political interference.
The Kogi State Commissioner for Environment and Natural Resources, Mr. Victor Adewale Omofaiye, thanked the Authority for a warm reception, noting that the purpose of their visit was to tap into LAWMA’s vast experience, which had made it a global brand.
Omafaiye submitted that the environment is a gift from God, which required collective preservation, attesting that the level of achievement attained by Lagos State in environmental sustainability did not just happen overnight, hence the delegation’s visit to discover the secrets.
The team, in the course of their visit, embarked on a tour of some of the Authority’s facilities such as the Engineering section, where LAWMA engineers fabricate double dino bins for waste containerisation, Olusosun dumpsite and others, for a first-hand assessment.
