The Chairman of Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), Dr. Muiz Banire, has said that noise pollution accounts for mass failure in schools in the country.

The AMCON Chairman disclosed this at the 27th annual Scientific Conference and Annual General Meeting held in Lagos.

He revealed that having noticed the effects of noise pollution in Lagos, one of the things he did when he was a Commissioner for Environment in the state was to ensure that pollution of all kinds were reduced to a manageable level.

Banire noted that students now have ear problems because of the different kinds of noise pollution they are exposed to right from their early stages in life.

He said that it is the major reason why students perform below standard in WAEC and JAMB examinations in the recent past.

“We found out that most students had a hearing impairment, some could not even hear what their teachers were saying in class.

“We also discovered that when they get home, they sit close to the grinding machines, besides the loudspeakers of music sellers, and at night, vigils won’t let them sleep, and mosques wake them up at 4 am, vehicle hooting, and indiscriminate use of sirens contributed too, thus affecting the health of young persons.

“I said this before, and I want to say it again, if we do not curtail the extent of pollution, it will lead to early death” he added.

Banire stressed that most worrisome is the fact that, there is no law guiding environmental pollution, and that everybody just operates arbitrarily.

“We need to set a template that will guide us in enforcing laws on environmental pollution in Nigeria. And that should be part of the resolution of this conference, to create a parameter for enforcements.

A significant solution to all these is the three R’s, which are to; reduce waste, reuse waste, and recycle waste, we must apply it, if we want to quell the impact of environmental polution” he said.f

Speaking earlier, the Chairman Local Organizing Committee, Dr. Ayo Olude, said that pollution was the major cause of sickness.

He advised government to make laws that will regulate pollution in the country.