Hon, Mohammed Bello ,one time lawmaker ,now Director General of Nasarawa State Waste Management and Sanitation Authority in this interview with our Lafia Correspondent Francis Nansak ,has reeled out his administration’s target in line with the vision of the Governor of Nasarawa State ,Engr Abdullahi Sule whose dream is to create wealth through the available potential of the state – Excerpt.
May we know what you hold in future for the development of this agency since you came on board.
Sincerely speaking I wish to start by thanking His Excellency the Governor of Nasarawa State ,Engineer Abdullahi Sule for finding me worthy to serve in this capacity as the director general of this agency.I started work here on the first of January and we are 3 months now I came in full of vision and mission to transform the Nasarawaa Waste Management and Sanitation Authority into actualizing it core mandate ,because it is now an organization that has global recognition, as many waste have turn around to be spinning money both in Nairas and Dollars,this is my passion and mission to ensure that Nasarawa State tapped into the benefits derived from waste management.And trying to achieve this I was in attendance of the state meeting of the economic council,where every agency head meets to discuss the way out. And by the grace of God I succeeded through the help of the deputy governor of Nasarawa State,Dr Emmanuel Akabe.Secondly, upon assuming office I discovered that six of our trucks were almost in the state of disrepair and can only be auction or sold as scrap but because I am out to transform the place ,I lias with some motor parts dealers and we have revived 3 to 4 of the trucks now as well as procured a new truck(Ho-ho) we have also embarked on the construction of the DG’s office which when completed will house the office of the Secretary ,a conference hall and the ICT unit, If you look at the waste management agency office there is no provision for such facility,and because waste management has become one of the richest organization in the world,our intention for the ICT is to enable us make contacts and transact with other international organizations that specializes in turning our waste into wealth. So this is my vision and mission and Insha Allah,very soon we shall be having waste energy,that is fertilizer to boost our agricultural production in the state.
DG sir ,have you thought of rejuvenating the waste recycling plant in the state that was neglected for some years now?
That is why I earlier said that waste management is one aspect of the economy that has become the richest in the world and in this regards we have 3 to 4 of those recycling plants in the state.We have one in Auta Balefi, one in Lafia and one in Nasarawa.The one in lafia was contracted to a private firm which i discovered they had breached the contractual agreement but we on the verged of reclaiming the plant ,because we are the ones responsible for paying for the utilities such as electricity,water and so pay security.And in doing this the state Governor has given us a matching order to load with the Nasarawa State Investment Agency as well as the state ministry of justice in order to takeover the recycling plant and put it in order.For the one in Lafia which of course is in a good state ,with the emir of lafia Justice Sidi Bage as our partner, yet we are trying to take total control of it too.It will amazed you to know that collection of leather and other plastics if melted can be used in road repairs,that is what we are envisaging to do
Okay sir, can you shade more light on a recent staff verification exercise that your agency embarked on ?
Thank , that is one of the challenges I am facing at the moment because when I took over ,I found out that there are certain things that were not done rightly,the numbers of staff was not stable so went into discussion with the GM and embarked on physical verification which Is still ongoing, I know they have concluded that of Lafia ,Keffi and part of Karu, upon finishing we will furnish you with the full details. I want to use this medium to call on our casual staff to be punctual ,failure to meet out set target they risked being fired and this could also lead to having dirty road,streets ,blocked gutters and diseases out breaks.My attention was being drawn to on an information passed to me last two weeks by the DSSS that some of the dustbin we have in Lafia , hoodlums are taking advantage to it to steal and caused harm to their fellow men which a security report ,however the deputy governor has given us a matching order to meet with the commissioner for local government and chieftaincy affair to fashioned out modalities along with chairman lafia local government and of course this will be applicable to all the 13 LGAs in the state for precautionable measures.
DG , one will want to know what is the connect between ICT and waste management, what is the derivable benefit to the agency?
Yes, For instance some one in Canada wanting to partner with us ,you will realised that such person can not reach us ,but through information Communication Technology ,it becomes easier ,that is number one.Secondly, the world has gone digital today in this respect i felt there is need for us to have an ICT media porter ,to enable access of mails and where our partners can use to write us and we reply them.We should also be able to appropriately inform the public via social media space and as well as engaged in zoom meetings, these are key components that can be used in projecting our activities around the world. Aside this,with the insecurity issues now, ICT becomes the best option for communication because we cover almost all the local government areas in the state ,so you can see that we need an ICT media center , this will help us communicate directly with all our branches without having to wait for someone to bring the mails from distance area.
Let’s look at enforcement ,is there any on ground to check indiscriminate dumping of refuse?
Certainly, before I assumed office there is a standing enforcement department , we have a mobile court, a lawyer and the mobile court judge as well as a consultant who were assigned to us , that is why we need the commitment of the staff and this is one reason we embarked on the staff verification exercise
