HOMEF Slams Nigerian Government, EU Against Importation Of Hazardous Waste
—advocates for environmental justice
Tracy Ohovwore, Benin City
Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) has charged the Nigerian government against importing non-hazardous wastes from European Union (EU) countries. According to the report of the EU as noted by HOMEF, €18.8 billion worth of EU waste was exported in 2023 to poor countries across the globe where wastes are commodified to make it appeal to poorer countries that are seeking foreign exchange by all means.
It was further said that often, wastes that were certified ‘non-hazardous’ contain traces of heavy metals and other dangerous elements, which have contributed to the spread of ecological challenges.
HOMEF, in a statement signed by her media/communications lead, Kome Odhomor, noted that Nigeria and other African countries have become dump sites for the thousands of obsolete and unusable computers and other e-wastes that are majorly imported from China, Spain, the United States, the United Kingdom, Morocco, and the UAE.
It further noted that Nigeria is already challenged by environmental pollution, which includes oil and gas pollution, pollution from the exploitation of solid minerals, plastic pollution, and generic pollution in foods.
The Executive Director of HOMEF, Dr Nnimmo Bassey, expresses his concern about the growing ‘systemic legal waste colonialism’ plaguing Nigeria. According to him, “This move exposes the government’s willingness to discount the wellbeing of citizens for a mess of porridge.
“It is inconceivable that a nation with life expectancy of about 56 years and a broken healthcare delivery system would succumb to the level of begging to import someone else’s waste, when we can hardly handle our domestic wastes,” he lamented.
