In the face of the daunting challenge of various forms of environmental degradation, the minister of environment, Mallam Balarabe Abbas Lawal, says a circular economy would provide the framework for the balance between development and environmental sustainability.
The minister's submission came while presenting a keynote address at the workshop on mainstreaming circular economy in land degradation sectors of construction, mining and quarrying, organised by the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) in collaboration with the European Union, recently in Abuja.
Mallam Lawal said while the sectors were vital to Nigeria's economic development, they are implicated in land degradation, as "unregulated mining pits, exhausted quarry sites, deforestation, and polluted environments are clear signs of the imbalance between development and environmental sustainability."
"Our landscapes, ecosystems and communities bear the brunt of unchecked extraction, resource depletion and unsustainable development due to construction, mining and quarrying," he added.
To stem the tide, the minister stressed the need for the construction industry to adopt circular economy strategies to reduce its environmental footprint, insisting, "We must prioritise land rehabilitation in mining and quarrying operations. Mining and quarrying companies must adopt zero-waste policies, ensuring that mining by-products, such as tailings and waste rocks, are repurposed for other industrial uses or construction projects."
In his welcome address, the Director General of NESREA, Dr Innocent Barikor, noted that the circular economy offers a transformative framework to ensure resource conservation and regeneration, waste-to-resource systems, and sustainable urbanisation."
He called for the collaboration of all stakeholders to ensure the adoption and promotion of sustainable practices to speed up "the restoration of our land, regeneration of our ecosystems, and protection of our environment for future generations."
The chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment, Akintude Yunus, and the deputy chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Environment, Terseer Ugbor, pledged the National Assembly's support for providing the necessary legislative backing for environmental protection in the country.
