Poor funding and weak enforcement of environmental regulations are limiting Nigeria’s ability to prevent environmental hazards, experts have warned.
The Executive Secretary of the Alliance for Responsible Battery Recycling (ARBR), Miranda Amachree, said this during a discussion on artificial intelligence (AI), electronic waste and environmental sustainability at the 2026 UK Media Excellence for Emerging Technologies (UK MEET) Fellowship event in Abuja on Thursday.
Amachree was responding to THE WHISTLER’s question on why potentially harmful materials often reach the market without adequate checks to prevent environmental and public health risks.
“Regulations are meant to be proactive. We all know about the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Act. These policies are expected to preempt the impact of industrial facilities that are being constructed or set up. We have these laws, but implementation is the problem,” she said.
Amachree, a former Director of Inspection and Enforcement at the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA), urged journalists to hold manufacturers and government agencies accountable. She said authorities were expected to assess potential environmental impacts and take preventive measures before harm occurred.
She said the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) principle was designed to make manufacturers responsible for their products throughout their life cycle, including disposal.
According to her, requiring manufacturers to take responsibility for discarded products would encourage them to review their designs and reduce waste.
“If they are responsible for these products’ end of life, they would be forced to go back to their designs and make the necessary adjustment, because it’s their business and money at stake,” she said.
Amachree said failure to hold manufacturers accountable leaves the government to bear the cost of managing discarded products, putting further pressure on public funds.
She identified inadequate funding as a major reason the government often responds to environmental hazards after they occur rather than invest in preventing them.
“Funding, based on my experience in the system, is a big issue why we see that government most times are reactive instead of being proactive, so what they do is look for partners everywhere,” she said.
She urged journalists to use their reporting to demand accountability from public institutions and press authorities to fulfil their environmental responsibilities.
“When you (journalists) begin to shame them to their responsibilities, they will do the right thing,” she said.
The discussion also examined Nigeria’s electronic waste management systems, battery recycling and public understanding of proper waste disposal.
Ibukun Faluyi, a sustainability consultant at Vicinia Solutions Limited, said effective collection and recycling systems were needed to recover valuable materials from discarded electronic products.
Kingsley Jeremiah, editor of energy and power at The Guardian Newspapers, said a gap remained between environmental policies and public understanding of waste management.
He called for collection centres to double as training points for informal waste collectors to equip them with knowledge of safe waste handling and recycling practices.
