Esteemed Hub Foundation has charged business owners to find alternatives to the use of plastic bags. The non-governmental organisation made this known during an event, at the weekend, in Minna, Niger State, to commemorate the 2024 World Earth Day, with the theme, ‘Planets vs Plastics: Saving the Planet with Plastic Re-cycling’.
The workshop was in partnership with Education As Vaccine on the African Activists for Climate Justice Project for female students, women from different communities, business owners and government officials.
Executive Director of the foundation, Doosugh Agbadu, in her address, noted that the workshop was aimed at sensitising women, female students and business owners.
Doosugh had expressed concern over hundreds and thousands of nylon bags in markets; hence, the need for business owners to come up with alternatives to plastic,like paper bags.
She emphasised that if business owners become more climate-friendly, they would be able to invent better packaging systems, urging women in urban and rural communities to reduce single-plastic use.
“In this capacity-based training, we are training women on how to make soap. When they start making soap commercially, they will start selling on their own and start collecting plastic bottles. It is just a way to reduce plastic that may fall into the stream. It also helps the women to make money because, once someone is making money from something, they would be encouraged to do more of it,” Agbadu said.
Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, Hadiza Shiru, revealed that already the state government had keyed into the fight against climate change.
Shiru also hinted that Niger was first among the 36 states to host a green economic summit, to curb the effect of climate change, adding that Governor Umaru Bago was ahead of other governors in the fight against climate change.
“The workshop is commendable, especially coming from a non-governmental organisation involved in sensitising women and female students. Niger government is doing so much to reduce carbon monoxide in the state,” Shiru added. Highlights of the workshop were visitation to a plastic recycling plant in the Maitumbi area of Minna, and training of participants on soap making.
