Minister of Environment Balarabe Abbas Lawal has commended the Director General of the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency, Prof. Innocent Barikor, for what he described as significant contributions to environmental protection over the past two years.

Lawal gave the commendation  in Abuja recently after Barikor briefed him on NESREA’s activities over the past year.

“I have been commending you because you have made a lot of impact. You have shown NESREA to be truly the police of the environment,” the minister said.

He urged greater cohesion and synergy among departments and agencies under the ministry.

Barikor said NESREA had strengthened checks on hazardous imports through its automated clearance regime. The agency processed and issued 10,804 Environmental Import Clearances and rejected 30 non-compliant applications, mostly for end-of-life electronics.

He reported 4,894 compliance monitoring visits and inspections, investigations into more than 200 complaints, and the sealing of 88 non-compliant facilities.

The agency also reviewed and certified 2,925 Environmental Audit Reports and 1,903 Environmental Management Plans, and issued 1,969 environmental permits.

Other initiatives highlighted included equipping the National Environmental Reference Laboratory in Port Harcourt under Phase I of the Fleming Fund, and the rollout of the Global Environment Facility projects on circular solutions to plastics pollution in Nigeria and across Africa. NESREA also began implementing Phase I of a Japan-funded UNEP project on circular solutions to plastic pollution.

Barikor thanked the minister for his leadership and mentorship in environmental governance.