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AN INSIGHT INTO ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AND CONSERVATION OF NATURAL RESOURCES IN ENUGU STATE PRESENTLY

Published

6 years ago

September 19, 2020

Ifeanyi Ogenyi

Globally, environmental degradation is becoming increasingly evident.

Undoubtedly, it is a threat to human existence. These challenges may likely persist and even intensify unless drastic measures are taken by the government to protect the ecosystem.

It is a very critical role of the government to protect the environment and conserve natural resources.

The government responsibility with regard to environmental protection is enshrined in Section 20 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) which provides thus: “The State shall protect and improve the environment and safeguard the water, air and land, forest and wildlife of Nigeria”. Thus, the State’s power to protect and manage the environment is derived from the Constitution-“ the grand norm”.

The need for aggressive environmental protection and conservation of the natural resources in contemporary society and Enugu State, in particular, cannot be over-emphasized; and to drive this all-important mandate to an appreciable success, the government has to play invaluable roles.

In Enugu State, the Ministry of Environment and Mineral Resources is the Ministry saddled with the responsibility to oversee the environment and the natural resources in the State.

It used to be the thinking of most of the Enugu People and its residents that the Ministry of Environment and Mineral Resources is just all about waste disposal and cleaning of Enugu City (the ESWAMA job). This is because the critical roles of the Ministry have been in obscurity and the people have not felt their presence in other areas within their purview due to the indifferent attitude of the past administrations to the performance of the Ministry.

However, the story is different presently under the administration of Rt.Hon.Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi who has appointed a man who knows his “onions” very well to head the Ministry in the person of Hon. Barr. Chijioke Edeoga, former Commissioner for Ministry of Local Government Matters. The notable reforms and track record of Hon. Chijioke Edeoga in the Ministry of Local Government Matters is numerous and indelible.

Hon. Chijioke Edeoga likes his boss Rt. Hon. Ugwuanyi possesses transformative leadership character such that whatever they touch, gets transformed. With the Midas touch of Hon. Edeoga in the Ministry of Environment, the Ministry is now back on track for optimal performance.

Enugu has been repositioned on the part of a serene, clean, conducive, and aesthetically pleasing environment.

Under the present administration, people have come to realize that the mandate of the Ministry of Environment goes beyond waste disposal and cleaning of Enugu City.

It is worthy of note that the present administration under Rt.Hon.Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi has taken drastic measures to regulate and sanitize the chaotic outdoor advertising regime in Enugu through the establishment and inauguration of a new agency known as Enugu State Structures for Signage and Advertising Agency ( ENSSAA). This new agency which is under the supervisory jurisdiction of the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources is the first of its kind in the South East and the South-South States and its mandate amongst others is to bring order and restore the beauty to the skylines of Enugu. The agency is ready and passionate about sanitizing the signage and outdoor advertising in the State.

It is crystal clear that the present administration is fully determined and has demonstrated the ingenuity, capacity, competence, commitment, readiness, and the political will to give the Ministry a new leadership direction geared towards full actualization of the mandate of the Ministry which includes but not limited to wastes disposals, environmental pollution abatement, cleaning of Enugu City but also extended to general environmental protection, conservation of the natural resources and attainment of sustainable development.

Recently, due to the increasing and uncontrolled degradation of the natural landmarks and resources in Enugu, the Ministry took a bold step and issued a stern warning to those distorting our hills and deforesting our environment to desist from such un-friendly environmental activities or face the wrath of the law.

We have seen many of such nefarious and un-friendly environmental activities in the past years without any such action from the appropriate authority, but the present administration had the right person on the job is determined that things must be rightly done in the State.

This is the way to go and it is the right step in the right direction. We cannot continue to watch our environment collapse irredeemably.

The government should intensify its efforts and more drastic measures should also be taken to ensure that the environment and the natural resources are protected from degradation, deforestation, loss of biodiversity and unsustainable developmental activities so as to mitigate the environmental crisis and the effects of climate changes.

There are increasing human pressures on the ecosystem and this increase has counter-reactions on the environment. In this regard, the need for public support for environmental protection and conservation of natural resources is inevitable.

The people must play complementary roles as it will be wrong to think or assume that environmental protection and management are solely the responsibility of the government. All hands must be on deck for us to achieve appreciable success in environmental protection.

The fact still remains that environmental hazards have trans-boundary effects. They recognize no boundary, community, town, or village. Their effects have no respect for anybody irrespective of status, class, or social affiliation.

So the sustainability of natural resources is critical to ensuring rational uses, management, and conservation of the natural resources in Enugu State.

With the undiluted commitment, determination, insight, and inspiration of the present administration, there are clear and informed directions to environmental management; and hope is rekindled in Enugu with regards to living in a clean and conducive environment; and conservation of the natural resources in Enugu.

While we use the environment to meet today’s needs, let us not compromise the ability of the future generation to meet their own needs.

Indeed, Enugu State is working

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Strategic Partnerships, Diaspora Investment and Improved Workforce Critical to Industrialization-DG RMRDC

Published

16 hours ago

November 12, 2026

The Gleamer

By: Stella Azi and Adaora Adibe

The Director-General/Chief Executive Officer of the Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC), Prof. Nnanyelugo Ike-Muonso, has called for a strategic shift from the exportation of raw commodities to domestic processing, manufacturing and value addition, declaring that Nigeria possesses enormous untapped raw material resources capable of driving industrialisation, creating jobs and strengthening the country’s economic competitiveness.

Prof. Ike-Muonso made this submission in a lecture titled Unlocking Nigeria’s Raw Material Value Chain for Industrialization, Manufacturing and Competitiveness, where he presented an extensive assessment of Nigeria’s resource endowments, industrial challenges and emerging investment opportunities across agricultural commodities, solid minerals and waste-based raw materials.

The lecture highlighted a combined US$2.65 trillion global market opportunity across 30 major raw material value chains, comprising 12 agricultural value chains valued at US$932 billion, 11 mineral value chains worth US$1.352 trillion and seven circular-economy value chains estimated at US$366 billion.

According to the RMRDC Boss, Nigeria must move beyond the traditional approach of extracting and exporting raw materials to building competitive domestic industries that transform these resources into intermediate products, industrial inputs and finished goods for local consumption and international markets.

He observed that the country’s manufacturing sector has struggled to sustain its 2014 peak, with its contribution to real Gross Domestic Product declining from 9.64 per cent in 2014 to 8.05 per cent in 2025, representing a 16.5 per cent decline. He also drew attention to the increasing cost of raw material imports, which rose to US$20.5 billion in 2025, approximately six times the 2020 level.

He explained that the growing dependence on imported industrial inputs exposes Nigerian manufacturers to foreign exchange volatility, increases production costs and weakens the competitiveness of locally manufactured products.

Prof. ke-Muonso stressed that the solution lies in developing domestic raw material value chains through deliberate investment in processing facilities, research and development, technology, infrastructure and stronger linkages between producers, processors and manufacturers.

He identified agriculture, solid minerals and industrial waste as three major resource platforms for Nigeria’s industrial transformation, stating the country’s significant production capacity and the enormous opportunities available for downstream processing.

Ike-Muonso noted that Nigeria produces over 63 million metric tonnes of cassava annually, making it the world’s largest producer, while also maintaining strong positions in cocoa, cashew, sesame, palm oil and cotton. However, more than 80 per cent of agricultural output leaves farms without adequate processing, resulting in the loss of significant economic value and industrial opportunities.

In the solid minerals sector, he identified more than 44 commercially viable minerals across over 500 locations, including lithium, gold, barite, bitumen, iron ore and high-grade limestone, describing them as strategic resources capable of supporting steel production, energy storage, electrification and advanced manufacturing.

The DG further drew attention to Nigeria’s industrial and agro-waste resources, noting that the country generates over 32 million tonnes of solid waste annually. He explained that agricultural residues, cassava peels, scrap metals, plastics and electronic waste could serve as important feedstock for bio-fertilisers, industrial chemicals, recycled polymers, energy production and other manufacturing applications.

In the agricultural sector, the DG identified cassava and industrial starch, cotton and natural textiles, natural rubber and elastomers, oil palm and oleochemicals, maize derivatives and cocoa processing as priority areas requiring increased investment.

He explained that processing agricultural commodities into industrial starch, sweeteners, textiles, technical rubber, specialty fats and other intermediate products would enable Nigeria to capture more value from its agricultural resources while reducing dependence on imported industrial inputs.

For the minerals sector, he highlighted crude oil-to-olefins and petrochemicals, lithium and energy storage, iron ore and steel, rare earth elements, bauxite and aluminium, and copper and electrification as strategic investment opportunities.

He particularly emphasised the importance of moving beyond mineral extraction into beneficiation, refining, battery precursors, industrial chemicals, metal fabrication and advanced materials production.

On the circular economy, Prof. Ike-Muonso identified electronic waste recovery, scrap metal recycling, plastic waste processing, agro-waste valorisation and battery recycling as emerging industrial opportunities.

He explained that transforming waste into productive industrial feedstock would not only reduce environmental pollution but also create new manufacturing industries, generate employment and reduce the importation of valuable industrial materials.

He noted that to address the structural challenges confronting raw material-based industrialisation, the DG highlighted the strategic interventions of the RMRDC, particularly the proposed 30% Value Addition Bill and the Nigeria Integrated Information Statistical System for Raw Materials and Products (NISSRAMP).

He described the 30% Value Addition Bill as an important policy instrument designed to encourage domestic processing of raw materials before export, strengthen local manufacturing capacity and guarantee access to essential raw materials for Nigerian industries, and NISSRAMP as a critical data infrastructure that would improve access to verified information on the availability, location and quality of raw materials.

According to him, the combination of appropriate policy instruments and reliable resource data would help de-risk investments, improve transparency and strengthen confidence in Nigeria’s raw material sector.

He emphasised the importance of collaboration among government, academia and industry in developing bankable projects, sharing investment risks and accelerating the establishment of processing and manufacturing facilities.

Professor Ike-Muonso called on Nigerians in the diaspora and other local and international investors to take advantage of the opportunities available in Nigeria’s raw material sector.

He identified industrial processing parks, mineral beneficiation and refining, agro-industrial platforms, circular-material processing, industrial input manufacturing and enabling infrastructure as viable investment platforms.

He noted that diaspora investors could contribute beyond financial capital by bringing technology, international business networks, governance standards, technical expertise and access to global markets.

He maintained that Nigeria’s industrial transformation requires coordinated investment across the entire value chain, from raw material sourcing and aggregation to processing, manufacturing, certification and export development.

Professor Ike-Muonso stressed that the country’s industrial future would depend not merely on the volume of raw materials extracted but on the capacity to transform them into competitive products that meet domestic and international market requirements.

He maintained that developing local value chains would stimulate industrial growth, create employment opportunities, diversify exports, conserve foreign exchange and deepen Nigeria’s technological capabilities.

Through its strategic interventions, the RMRDC is positioning itself as a critical bridge between resource availability, investment opportunities and industrial competitiveness, with the ultimate objective of transforming Nigeria from a predominantly raw material exporting economy into a strong manufacturing and value-adding nation.

Ike-Muonso has demonstrated this since assumption of office as the Director General/ CEO RMRDC in the area of capacity building, improved working conditions, promotion of merit, and maintaining a conducive environment that rewards excellence, innovation and dedication. This is evident in his institution of RMRDC training school, reward for winners of the RMRDC innovation challenge among others.

His commitment has brought recognition both nationally and internationally: Al-Jazirah double honour awards as Public Servant /Government Agency of the year 2024-2025 and the recent election as the Sub-Saharan Africa Regional Representative on the Board of the World Association of Industrial and Technological Research Organisations (WAITRO) is a attestation to his commitment.

Concluding the lecture, the DG charged staff, researchers, manufacturers and investors to see themselves as nation builders in the new era of raw materials-led industrialization.

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