Lagos State has been identified as one of the top disposers of cooling equipment across the world, which has a consequential impact on the Ozone layer. The General Manager of Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA), Dr Babatunde Ajayi, disclosed this, yesterday, during activities to mark the 2024 World Ozone Day celebration in Ikeja.
   
The theme for this year’s event is: “Montreal Protocol: Advancing Climate Action.”Lamenting the poor ranking, Ajayi said LASEPA had taken up the responsibility to enlighten and educate the public about the depletion of the Ozone layer.  
  
According to him, this year’s commemoration was really to pass a message across to the grassroots, particularly people, who have business to do with hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) and also other greenhouse gases that affect the depletion of the ozone layer. 
  
Ajayi said: “Our strategy first is to do a lot of advocacy around the places; we have people from different works of life, particularly the refrigerator and AC repairers.”  
  
“We have over 200 of them, who we are educating on proper handling and management of these gases, which are present in the things they repair, “We educate them on how they can repair the refrigerators and air conditioners, and how not to dispose of them badly.”   He stressed that Lagos State had come out with a lot of policies to curb the situation. 
  
“Enforcement is not usually the first thing we jump out at but the policies are very clear on the management of this equipment and people who handle the gases and how they should go around the management. 
 
“The other thing is our very strong partnership with the association that governs the activities in Lagos and also the federal agency that oversees.  In her remarks, the keynote speaker and Controller, Federal Ministry of Environment in Lagos, Mrs Olabimpe Adenaike, said the ministry was working hard regarding ozone layer depletion.
  
She stressed that the ministry had trained Nigeria customs officers at the ports because that was the point of entry of most of the refrigerants, to look out for them and stop them from entering the country.