The federal government has disclosed that the legal and illegal importation of used electrical electronics appliances into the country is creating serious human and environmental problems. The potentially hazardous nature of electronic waste due to elements like cadmium, mercury, lead and compounds as PCB’s has posed serious threats to environmental sustainability. The minister of environment, housing and urban development, while commending the efforts of the federal government on the introduction of GSM and the project of one computer per child as a means to positively reduce the digital gap and effectively launch Nigerian citizenry to the information and technology age, noted, however, that it will leave in its wake an awesome level of electronic waste that must be environmentally managed in a sound manner. It is in this regard that the ministry is conducting inventory of E-waste in Nigeria and an assessment of current scenario quantification, characteristics of existing disposal services and environmental impact as a means to address the problem of dumping of computers that are imported into the country every month.
First input:
27 Nov 2007