My Waste Management Business Journey Story

In late January 2022, we were organizing a book drive for 15 schools across 5?States in Nigeria through REES Africa.?

It was during the activity I met Fatima Aliyu. She spoke passionately about plastic pollution and what she is currently doing in her own way to fight it. Her steps were very practical and actionable. So?decided to face my fear of taking action.?

You see, I have been in the Renewable Energy and environmental sustainability space since 2017 through active volunteering with Rees Africa.?

Our focus has been on fighting energy poverty for pro-poor areas and helping restore our environment to make it better for our future generations.?

Through this, I have been in many advocacy projects both online and offline. I have participated in awareness programs such as clean-up at different locations, stakeholder engagement, and many events to advocate for actions we can take to help curb the climate change challenge.?

Yes, I enjoyed every bit of the activities on successful execution of all projects but at different intervals, I was having a feeling of less fulfillment. The impact for me was always short-lived, especially for environmental relayed projects.?

I remember vividly during one of our cleanup exercises at Iyana Ipaja Bridge at Lagos, just within two hours of completing the clean-up, the venue was practically littered more than in the initial state.

I felt really hurt getting to know about this. Other scenarios during clean-ups like hearing the comments like "there the pay them, let them do it" from residents also get to me easily.?

Another incident I won't forget so soon is during an awareness campaign at Isolo, Lagos where we were pushing for waste separation by residents. During an engagement with an individual she shared with us that she doesn't have issues with separation of her waste but what happens after she has separated is what she doesn't want. She explained how waste pickers don't respect the separated wastes.?

This and many more issues have made get scared of wanting to try out a solution for this common enemy.

But this is about to change.

After meeting with Fatima Aliyu and getting to know about some actions she is on her own taking, I had to seat and rethink my priorities.?

I love the concept of entrepreneurship, I want to be a solution provider, and ultimately this waste management issue is actually bigger than any individual today.

Hence my decision to start something in the space.