NEDC Empowers Youths with 120 Briquette Machines to Tackle Pollution, Unemployment
By Tada Juthan, Maiduguri
The North East Development Commission (NEDC) has distributed 120 briquette-making machines to youths to boost a clean environment and employment in the region.
According to the commission, the youths are trained under the Waste Management and Recycling (WTMR) program in Borno and five other states.
Distributing the machines on Monday in Maiduguri, the Managing Director of the Commission, Mohammed Alkali, stated, “The waste recycling program was to train and engage the youths in converting large quantities of plastics, agricultural, and household wastes into wealth, including tonnes of briquette bricks.”
He noted that the waste recycling activities will also create job opportunities in fighting tree felling and pollution from the use of firewood in households.
On the maintenance of distributed machines, Alaki stated that the General Manager of Africa Express, Mohammed Danbaba Sani, is engaged to handle the maintenance of the distributed briquette-making machines in Borno State.
The managing director warned the youths not to sell or abuse the distributed briquette-making machines to marry more wives or for other uneconomic activities.
He continued, “Our recycling waste management program was to boost employment and livelihoods of youths in the six states affected by the over-a-decade Boko Haram insurgency.”
The Wastes to Wealth and Watershed Management (WWM) Facilitator, Dr. Zaiba Chellube, said, “The indiscriminate disposals of plastic and household wastes threaten the fragile environment.
He warning that it also increases the rate of pollution and other environmental degradation in the Northeast.
Besides the fight against pollution, Zainab noted that the waste recycling project of the commission is a lucrative wealth creation program, including the engagement of scavengers in the management of metals and scraps in the region.
I’mShe, therefore, urged the trained youths to overcome the challenges of unemployment and poverty in their communities.
