By Olanrewaju Adesanya
Citing vulnerability of its members to COVID-19 infection, waste and scrap pickers in Nigeria have urged the Federal Government to consider them first for vaccination as Nigeria received the first consignment on Tuesday.
The waste pickers under the aegis of the National Union of Scraps and Waste Workers of Nigeria (NUSWON) at a workshop, yesterday, said they were more vulnerable to COVID-19 than even the health workers.
Acting President of NUSWON, Friday Oku, said despite the strategic importance of waste pickers to government’s recycling and ‘waste to wealth’ initiatives, waste pickers are usually regarded among the dregs of the society by government at all levels.
“Rather than support, what we get often than not, has always been harassment by agents of government,” he stated.
Citing an instance of the odious treatment meted to waste pickers, Oku said while virtually every sector of the economy got COVID-19 palliatives, waste pickers were not considered despite their vulnerability.
According to him, all disposable items used by the COVID-19 patients would still end up in dumpsites and in the hands of waste pickers.
This is why he asked the Federal Government to consider them among the first set of people to receive COVID-19 vaccine.
He stated that as an affiliate of the Global Waste Pickers’ Alliance, they are not getting similar attention and support their counterparts are getting across the world.
Oku emphasised that rather than harass waste pickers, the government could take advantage of their huge number to boost its internally generated revenue (IGR).
General Secretary of the Federation of Informal Workers of Nigeria (FIWON), Comrade Gbenga Akomolafe, said self-employed youths in the informal sector are facing a very critical situation worsened by the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic.
He said despite the several COVID-19 intervention programmes reeled out by the government, none has gotten to informal workers.
According to him, FIWON had written several letters to the federal government to consider the plight of informal workers without positive responses.
The workshop which was to commemorate the International Waste Pickers’ Day was held with the support of Food and Beverage Recycling Alliance (FBRA).