Layi Olanrewaju, Ilorin
To a first time visitor to Ilorin, Kwara State, what will stare him or her on the face are heaps of refuse, which have taken over major streets. This is as a result of the inability of the Kwara Waste Management Company (KWMC) to evacuate garbage in the last three months.
Daily Sun who went round the city and spoke to residents. Ayisat Amoke, a trader at Oja Oba near the Central Mosque, decried the situation: “It portends grave danger to the people’s health. The failure to evacuate the refuse can provoke an outbreak of diseases.”
A bus driver plying Oja Oba-Ganmo-Amoyo Road, Mudashiru Anofi, said it has become a norm for KWMC to abandon refuse by the roadside until they emit stinking odour into the atmosphere, causing serious discomfort to the residents.
Major areas mostly affected include Oniyangi on Emir’s Road, Princess Road/Balogun Fulani Road junction, Central Market, Isale Oja Roundabout, University Road, Tanke and Ipata Market.
The absence of workers to sweep major streets is attributed to the failure of the government to pay their salary arrears. Isiaka Laaro, a resident of the Emir’s Road neighbourhood, said the failure to clear refuse has become unbearable for most residents. He urged the waste management agency to urgently initiate measures to address the development.
Aishat Ibrahim, a trader, also warned of the consequences of abandoning refuse by the streets: “Government should know that cleanliness is next to Godliness.”
A senior officer in the last administration who would not want his name in print said: “The Emir of Ilorin’s Palace, the most beautiful Mosque outside Saudi Arabia is not left out of this horrible menace. Go to Tanke, trash is deposited on the university road median and other places within Tanke. Go to Taoheed Road off Basin, there is a huge trash deposit.
“Go to Zango, there is a massive garbage ‘mountain’ by the new market, which has to be evacuated daily or there is going to be a serious health hazard. Go to the interior of Ilorin and you will be shocked beyond belief, various areas have their own huge trash mountains.
“The question is, how did we get here? The answer is simple, the eight-year-regime of Abdulfatah Ahmed as executive governor, nothing happened. When Dr Bukola Saraki was governor we got various international and national awards for being the cleanest state in Nigeria.
“He established the ‘Clean and Green initiative’, where women were hired to clean the streets. He also made sure ‘Roro’ bins specifically manufactured for Kwara State by Anamco positioned at various strategic places to ease the garbage burden. He bought quite a few vehicles designed to evacuate this Roro bins. He was able to negotiate for landfills we used to bury the trash evacuated from Roro bins.
“He built a garbage recycling plant in Ganmo. I have had the privilege to visit quite a few countries in my time and nowhere would the government leave something as germane as the environment and garbage unattended to.
“Unfortunately, when Ahmed took over in 2011, he subscribed to an elitist idea sold him due to some interests. He didn’t look at the ramifications of his actions he removed most Roro bins against my advice. He said he expected to generate revenue from trash collection like Lagos State.
“The selected vendors, presented ‘huge castles in the air’ as their facilities, we later found out that they didn’t even own a single compactor. They had to run away when they saw they couldn’t meet up with what was on ground. The former governor could have looked at the trash recycling plant for employing our youths and generating much needed power. Unfortunately, the former governor couldn’t rejig the environmental issue after the failed attempt till he left office. Of course, he blamed the Ministry of Environment for the lapses and mounted untold pressure on the subsequent commissioners and staff without releasing quick and adequate funding for the ministry.
“I now appeal to Governor AbdulRahaman AbdulRazak to look for a far reaching solution. I beg the new government to also look at the waste recycling plant initiative located in Ganmo”.
When sought the reaction of the Ministry of Environment and Forestry and Environmental Protection Agency non was willing to react. A senior staff who craved anonymity because he was not permitted to speak with the press expressed regret over the delay in waste evacuation in the city and other towns and villages in the state. He pledged that the ministry would address the issue in due course.
Worried by the implication of leaving huge refuse unattended to, Kwara Youth Centre (KYC) urged Kwarans to always keep their environment clean and safe, noting government cannot do it alone. Its Coordinator, Kayode Oyin-Zubair, made this call during the inspection of environmental sanitation exercise embarked upon by volunteers from the centre in Ilorin. He noted that the people must complement government’s effort at ensuring that Kwara becomes clean and safe.
Some officials of the Ministry of Environment and Forestry went on a tour of Ilorin, to ensure compliance with environmental sanitation exercise. They inspected areas posing environmental hazards and ensured that violators no matter how highly placed were penalised.