A representative of the United Nations Environment Programme, Brian Holu, has revealed that over one million air conditioners are sold in Nigeria each year, which has a significant impact on the country’s citizens’ ability to pay their energy bills.
The federal government has issued a warning in response to the findings, asking relevant agencies to stop allowing the nation to be used as a landfill for refrigerators and air conditioners that don’t meet international standards for energy efficiency.
At the National Stakeholders’ Consultative Workshop on Energy Efficient and Climate-Friendly Cooling in Nigeria held in Abuja on Thursday, the Minister of Science, Technology, and Innovation, Adeleke Mamora, made this announcement.
Mamora was responding to the United Nations Environment Programme representative Brian Holuj’s announcement; he said Nigeria’s economic size and global warming have made it a viable destination for cooling devices such as air conditioners and refrigerators.
The Minister urged relevant agencies such as the Nigeria Customs Service and Standard Organization of Nigeria to be alive to their responsibilities to avoid the economic calamity of the country becoming a dump site.
“The customs, Standard Organisation of Nigeria, and other relevant agencies need to be alive to their responsibilities and ensure that Nigeria does not become a dumping ground, where you just bring in all sorts of products that are not in line with what we expect by way of standards,” the Minister stated.