General
Dangote Flags Off Waste-to-Wealth Initiative for Sustainability Week
The Dangote Industries Limited has flagged off an environment focused initiative tagged Waste to Wealth initiative as part of activities marking the 2019 Global Sustainability Week.
The initiative is focused on managing waste disposal while generating income and giving back to communities wherein the company operates.
The conglomerate marked the Sustainability Week with the theme Our Community, Our Passion with various activities held in the Lagos and across its Business Units and plants. These activities focused on investment programmes directed towards turning waste to wealth, and reviving reading culture in young children in host communities.
In Lagos, over 200 Sustainability Champions and employee volunteers across the business units, assisted five international facilitators to train the children on turning the most insignificant materials and waste in the environment into tangible assets of economic value to the nation.
Dangote employees took the initiative to St. George Primary School and Aunty Ayo International School in Ikoyi, where the facilitators, with additional help from the volunteers, trained the children on how to manage their wastes and create sustainable products that are marketable from their everyday generated wastes.
Reason for The Initiative
Speaking on the initiative, the Group Chief Sustainability and Governance, Dangote Industries Limited, Dr Ndidi Nnoli, said the company’s sustainability approach is driven by a desire to contribute and impact positively towards the development of host communities and the society at large.
According to her, the 2019 Sustainability Week is directed towards safeguarding the environment by educating the host communities on how to turn waste to wealth to achieve sustainable development.
She said, “We chose St. Georges School because the school is a neighbour to Dangote Head Office building in Ikoyi. Charity begins at home. We started to engender the sustainability culture as an employee volunteering initiative.
“We honestly believe that people are at the centre of any organisation and sustainability needs to begin with the individual person. It is a culture in Dangote to celebrate the sustainability week every year and this year we decided to bring it to a neighbouring school.”
“It is so important that we bring the initiative to the schools around us because we need to be very concerned about our children, their future, and most especially, education outside the classroom. We need to be concerned about educating our children on sustainability beyond the definition,” she added.
Ms Nnoli disclosed that the company brought international artists to educate the employees that the type of waste that can easily be thrown into the trash can, could be transformed into usable items.
“We have people making bangles and pencil cases out of waste plastics. We also have literacy session, mentoring and above all, we are learning about why it is necessary to hunger for knowledge,” she said further.
She noted that the Dangote Group has a responsibility to the environment and the society, pointing out that, “We are looking for ways to ensure that value is added to things around us. We have many volunteers who are so eager to learn and impact knowledge to the children. The children are also very excited to learn on new ways to transform the environment.”
“For us at Dangote, it is social responsibility and also corporate services, but in this case, the employees have volunteered to carry out this initiative. But the organisation has given us the license to do whatever we want to do.
“So, as Dangote employees, we have chosen to stand for sustainability, we stand for social development and we stand for the education of a child,” she said.
More Insight Into The Initiaitve
Giving insight into the programme, the Group Chief Human Resources Officer, Dangote Cement Plc, Dr Musa Rabiu, said the company’s intention was to create an environment “where we keep improving on how we operate and interact with the environment and regarding people as the most valuable assets.”
He said the company organised the programme to touch the hearts and minds of children who are the next generation by teaching them how to re-use trash.
Mr Rabiu said the initiative was all about reigniting children’s creative ability through innovation by leveraging on technology. “We need to let them know that managing the environment in terms of creativity and innovation is key. With this knowledge, the children are expected to grow up and be conscious of how they can re-use materials in the environment”, he added.
General Manager, Sustainability, Dangote Cement Plc, Eunice Samson, said the company’s intention was to ensure that Dangote employees key into the Group’s vision and volunteer to reach out to the local communities through value addition.
Reason for the 2019 Sustainability Week Theme
She said the theme for this year’s Sustainability Week “Our Community, Our Passion, the Dangote Way” was a way to make the host community to begin to see the social side of Dangote. “So, for Dangote, it is not always all about business; we also care about the wellbeing of our host communities. With this programme today, we have been able to reach out to over 600 pupils from St. George Primary School and Aunty Ayo International School, Ikoyi, Lagos.
“What we are trying to do is to ensure that we clear the environment of waste by turning it into wealth. We have over 200 Dangote employees who have volunteered to assist the facilitators to teach the children how to turn waste to wealth. The children have been taught how to turn waste plastic bottles into pencil cases, bangles, piggy banks, as well as using used Dangote Cement bags to create gardens” she added.
Speaking also at the event, the Managing Director of African Creative Hub, Jumoke Olowookere, said her responsibility was to teach the participants on how to create a sustainable world without wastes through upcycling wastes towards achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Definition of Sustainability
Business Post reports that according to Wikipedia, Sustainability refers generally to the capacity for the biosphere and human civilization to coexist. It is also defined as the process of people maintaining change in a balanced environment, in which the exploitation of resources, the direction of investments, the orientation of technological development and institutional change are all in harmony and enhance both current and future potential to meet human needs and aspirations.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has confirmed that a collision between vessels in the Bonny Channel, Rivers State, led to oil pollution in the affected area.
The agency’s Deputy Director and Head of Public Relations, Mr Osagie Edward, disclosed this in a statement, noting that the Deep Blue Forward Operating Base in Bonny received a distress call at about 11:30 a.m. regarding the collision.
He said the incident involved MV Valparaiso, a Singapore-flagged container vessel with IMO Number 9433054, and MT Lady Martina, a Nigerian-flagged oil products tanker.
According to the statement, the Deep Blue Base immediately deployed 10 armed personnel aboard the interceptor boat DB 214 to the scene.
The agency said five crew members aboard MT Lady Martina sustained varying degrees of injuries during the incident.
The spokesperson said the injured crew members were evacuated to the Forward Operating Base sickbay in Bonny for immediate medical treatment.
“Following the collision, MT Lady Martina drifted ashore and is currently aground along the Bonny Channel.
“MV Valparaiso also remains grounded at the Bonny Inner Anchorage pending damage assessment and further investigation,” Edward said.
He said the management of MAERSK had officially reported the incident to the agency.
Mr Edward said the Director-General of NIMASA, Mr Dayo Mobereola, had ordered a full investigation into the immediate and remote causes of the collision.
He added that NIMASA had established a Situation Monitoring Room to coordinate emergency response efforts and monitor developments from the incident.
Mr Mobereola had personally visited Rivers to inaugurate the monitoring room and oversee response operations in the state.
The Director-General also directed the agency’s Marine Environment Management Department to begin an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of the affected area immediately.
Mr Mobereola urged officials to take necessary measures to mitigate the impact of the Tier One oil sheen and safeguard the marine environment.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Some counterfeit, expired, and unwholesome products worth over N1.8 billion have been destroyed by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) in Abuja.
The agency, in a statement on Friday, disclosed that the items were destroyed by fire at the Kuje dumpsite in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The destruction exercise involved the incineration of counterfeit medicines, banned sachet alcohol, expired pharmaceuticals, fake chemicals and other unsafe products seized across Abuja and surrounding areas, including items voluntarily submitted by companies, NGOs, and the Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria (ACPN).
According to NAFDAC, this action demonstrates its commitment to ensuring that seized products do not re-enter circulation. It also reaffirms its commitment to enforcing the ban on alcoholic beverages packaged in sachets and PET bottles below 200ml, warning that enforcement actions and prosecution will extend to traders found in possession of such products.
Speaking during the exercise, the Director-General of NAFDAC, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, represented by the Director of Investigation and Enforcement, Mr Martins Iluyomade, warned that counterfeit drug syndicates now deploy sophisticated cloning techniques to imitate genuine products, making it increasingly difficult for consumers to identify fake items.
She disclosed that the organisation recently intercepted several containers of suspicious products falsely declared to evade detection at the ports, stressing the need for stronger inter-agency collaboration and public vigilance.
The DG urged Nigerians to avoid patronising suspiciously cheap medicines and other regulated products, and to report suspicious activities to the nearest NAFDAC office or the NAFDAC Call Centre.
By Adedapo Adesanya
President Bola Tinubu has commended the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) for dismantling a sophisticated Nigerian-Mexican drug syndicate and uncovering a multi-million-dollar illicit drug production network operating in the country.
The President’s message was contained in a statement issued on Thursday by his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Mr Bayo Onanuga.
The NDLEA Chairman, Mr Mohammed Buba Marwa, had on Wednesday announced the breakthrough following a major operation carried out by the agency in collaboration with international partners after weeks of intelligence gathering and strategic planning.
According to President Tinubu, the operation, which led to the arrest of foreign nationals, local drug kingpins, and other collaborators, as well as the seizure of illicit drugs and chemicals valued at over $360 million, reflects the professionalism and commitment of the anti-narcotics agency.
“This successful operation, which led to the arrest of foreign nationals, local kingpins and other collaborators, as well as the seizure of chemicals and illicit drugs valued at over $360 million, demonstrates exceptional professionalism, courage, and unwavering commitment to safeguarding society from the devastating effects of narcotics,” the President said.
He praised the courage, resilience, and dedication displayed by NDLEA operatives during the operation and urged the agency not to relent in the fight against drug trafficking.
He warned that West Africa has increasingly become a major transit hub for cocaine, synthetic drugs, and unregulated pharmaceuticals being trafficked to Europe and North America.
According to him, beyond posing serious security threats, the drug trade is also destroying the future of many young people across the region.
The President also called on Nigerians to support the fight against illicit drugs by remaining vigilant and reporting suspicious activities to security agencies.
“I call on all Nigerians to see the fight against illicit drugs not NDLEA’s alone. Everyone has a role to play. We must remain vigilant and promptly report suspicious activities within our communities to assist security agencies in combating criminal networks,” he stated.
President Tinubu added that the successful operation sends a strong warning to criminal networks that organised crime and other threats to public safety will not be tolerated anywhere in the country.
“This landmark success is a strong message that our security agencies will not tolerate organised crime and criminality anywhere in the country, and that those who threaten public safety and national security will face the wrath of the law,” he said.
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