The Minister of Science and Technology, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu, on Friday, October 2, 2020 in Abuja, set up an inter-ministerial committee to control pollution in Nigeria, according to an official statement issued by Abdulganiyu Aminu, Director of Press and Public Relation, in the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology.
According to the statement, Onu said that a report of the World Health Organisation (WHO) states that Lagos State lost $2.1 billion as a result of the adverse effects of pollution.
The report by the WHO which was carried out in major cities of the world, emphasised that women and children have lost their lives due to the menace of pollution.
“The WHO report said Lagos has a higher level of pollution than what is acceptable and the cost is heavy in terms of human lives and revenue to the nation,” the Minister said.
He charged the committee to find relevant solutions to help mitigate the challenge, saying that pollution could disrupt socio-economic activities.
The committee, made up of Directorate level staff of the concerned Ministries, has two weeks to come up with its report.
The concerned Federal ministries are Science and Technology, Transportation, Environment, Health, Industry, Aviation, Trade, Investment, Petroleum Resources and the Ecological Fund Office in the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federations (SGF).
By Sylvester Thompson
