Indiscriminate dumping of household refuse has remained a major challenge confronting governments at all levels in Nigeria. Despite their efforts at ensuring a clean, tidy and hygienic environment, the menace with its accompanying health hazards has regrettably remained on the surge. In this report, STEPHEN OLUFEMI ONI examines the efforts of the administration of Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq in combating this dreaded menace vis-à-vis the lackadaisical attitude of some residents towards the state's environmental sanitation laws aimed at encouraging the populace to keep their environments clean and tidy at all times

Indiscriminate dumping of household and industrial refuse is an agelong practice, and lamentably, it has remained an alternative means of refuse disposal, particularly in rural communities that have no access to reliable refuse removal services. However, this untidy and unhygienic behavioural pattern is no longer the exclusive preserve of rural communities as it has crept, in a seemingly uncontrollable manner, into urban centres, particularly the capital cities across the country where refuse removal services abound.

Interestingly, Kwara state, particularly Ilorin, the state capital, is also not immune to this unwholesome practice despite its health hazards to the citizenry. Regrettably, this is still happening in spite of the best efforts by the administration of Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq to curb the ugly trend. Lamentably, people still continue, with reckless abandon and impunity, to drop their household refuse so carelessly in unauthorised places within the metropolis thereby exposing residents to environmental degradation such as flooding, drainage blockade and widespread infectious diseases, including cholera, typhoid fever and diarrhoea, among others.

Declaring war on refuse

However, in order to ensure that the people of the state maintain a clean and hygienic environment, the AbdulRazaq administration has, without mincing words, declared that it would no longer be business as usual and has therefore put the relevant agencies, including the Ministry of Environment and the Kwara State Environmental Protection Agency (KWEPA), on red alert to ensure that residents fully comply with the state's environmental laws.

Hence the administration's engagement of the services of Primescape Nigeria Limited and Interproject Nigeria Limited as social refuse contractors whereby the people are required to pay a paltry sum to get their refuse evacuated. Besides, there are some other private refuse contractors whose charges are also moderate and affordable despite running their outfits on a commercial basis. In addition, the last Saturday of every month has been fixed as the state's environmental sanitation day between 7am and 9am, when residents across the 16 local government areas of the state are expected to stay at home and keep their environments tidy and clean, while mobile courts are on standby for instant trial of evaders caught roaming about during the two-hour exercise.

Curiously, in one fell swoop over 200 people were arrested for immediate prosecution on a particular environmental sanitation day for violating the Sanitation Law. Commissioner for Environment, Hon. Abosede Olaitan Buraimoh, who led a team to monitor people's compliance during the monthly exercise in Ilorin metropolis, said: “The tempo of prosecution of environmental law offenders will not be stopped until the people are ready to comply with the laid down rules. “All hands are on deck to make sure there is a high level of compliance. People are natural law breakers, so we handle them the way they want. We normally have the mobile court and security agents on ground for absolute compliance. Plans are afoot to extend the act of compliance to other areas in the state.”

Praise for transport workers

In spite of some people's lackadaisical attitude to the monthly sanitation exercise, the Commissioner singled out the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) and Road Transport Employees Association of Nigeria (RTEAN) for commendation having strictly complied with the environmental law during the particular environmental sanitation exercise.

She therefore urged all and sundry to emulate their exemplary behaviour or face the full wrath of the law. One thing is certain as observed by our correspondent: the state government is reinvigorating its regular inspection visits to various places to ensure that the environments are kept clean and tidy, while warning residents against illegal dumping of refuse to avert flooding during the rainy season.

The commissioner, who recently embarked on another round of inspection tour of the capital city still had to express her displeasure at the rate at which wastes were still being dumped on the road medians and other unauthorised places, saying the situation was worrisome despite the various enlightenment programmes undertaken by the government to sensitise and warn residents against the unwholesome practice. She said: “This habit has become a habitual one which should be curtailed on time before it gets out of hand.

Wastes dumped illegally pose great hazards to human health, so people should patronise the commercial waste contractors for adequate waste disposal and places where social waste contractors ply, people should wait to dump their refuse in the compactors. “Anyone caught dumping refuse illegally will have to face the wrath of the law.