WaterAid, FAcE-PaM, Others Train BASEPA Personnel on Smart Waste Management

Rauf Oyewole, Bauchi

The Bauchi State Environmental Protection Agency (BASEPA) in collaboration with the Forward in Action for Education, Poverty and Malnutrition (FAcE-PaM) is deploying Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in its environmental sanitation data gathering for efficiency.

Mohammad Usman Saleh, the Director, Inspection, Enforcement and Compliance of BASEPA, speaking during a three-day capacity building for the agency staff, explained that the digitalisation of the Agency became pertinent due to emerging trends in waste management and sanitation. According to him, the operations of the Agency have been carried out using paper and pen which he said come with a lot of challenges.

“Part of what we do is chlorination of our rural wells, we gather data on inspection and waste management – all of these are done manually. In fact, someone has to travel hundreds of kilometres to report these data. We are now deploying mobile Apps to collect, process, analyse and submit them to our headquarters for immediate actions. With these, we are sure of accuracy, efficiency and timeliness of information.

Saleh said that personnel from seven area offices were the participants who would be deployed to execute the digital transition at the grassroots.

The Programme Officer of The Sanitation and Hygiene Fund at FAcE-PaM, Daniel Anietie, explained that the training was sponsored by WaterAid Nigeria and executed by FAcE-PaM to upscale the operations of the Agency. “Our objective is to see BASEPA transform into digital from analogue operations. We are doing this with the support from WaterAid Nigeria and The Sanitation and Hygiene Fund,” Anietie said.

FAcE-PaM also called for action and advocated for a permanent ICT office in the seven area offices of Bauchi state. It urged the state to recruit more personnel, provide equipment and facilities to enhance the Agency’s operation effectively.

While speaking, Kasim Alex Shaibu, representative of WaterAid in Bauchi said that the project was part of Accelerating Inclusive Sanitation and Hygiene Economy in Nigeria focusing on market based sanitation and cholera control in the country.

Meanwhile, the Chief Sanitary Officer of the National Environmental Standard and Regulation Enforcement Agency (NESREA), Mr. Taolid Danjuma Musa, urged the state to transform its well designed framework into practical. According, the state has “a beautiful plan but what we see on the streets is still reflecting more efforts to be made. We need to be more proactive in our enforcement,” he said.