The North East Development Commission (NEDC) has begun the training of 115 youths on waste management and renewable energy. The five-day training organised in collaboration with the Borno State government was to empower youths with starter-packs and other kits for converting waste and creating employment, as well as wealth.
The NEDC’s Managing Director, Mohammed Alkali, who flagged off the event, said the wastes are located at refuge dump sites, drainages, including agricultural waste from crops, sugarcane and livestock.
Alkali, represented by the Commission’s State Coordinator, Mohammed Umar, said that the waste management training is simultaneously taking place in five other states to mitigate climate change in the Northeast.
According to him, renewable energy could also overcome the challenges of the recent removal of fuel subsidy by the Federal Government. The Training Coordinator, Dr Zainab Chillube, said there are a lot of job opportunities with enormous wealth in the environmental and agriculture sectors of the economy.
She disclosed that Lake Chad has receded from 25, 000 square kilometres in the 1950’s to 1, 540 square kilometers or 0.1 per cent of the present lake size.
While attributing the development to climate change and other human activities in the Lake Chad Basin, Chillube urged the youths to take advantage of the skills acquisition programme to mitigate climate change in the region.
