nigerian cities drown in mountains of

NIGERIAN CITIES DROWN IN MOUNTAINS OF GARBAGE

Things have never been this bad. Our epileptic industrialisation is

leaving problems we cannot cope with. If I told my son that as early

as 1970s a refuse disposal van drove past our neighborhood in the

campus of the University of Nigeria Nsukka collecting refuse, and that

the Estate Department would come round once a month to cut the

hedges...he would think I am a clown. We have normalised the sight of

refuse heaps at our door steps. How did things get this bad. This

image is from my street! In a "middle class" neighborhood in Owerri,

that was famed at sometime in the past as a quiet, clean and serene

town. Not any more....

The story is the same all over the country. Calabar...also called the

Canaan city was often used as an example for what a city should be

like. By the time the new government of Cross River state came into

office, Calabar was literally swallowed by gabage. The Governor, Liyel

Imoke spent weeks on his "sudden impact clean up campaign to restore

the cleanliness of Calabar metropolis"...yet the heaps keep

reappearing....

The residents of the sprawling city of Lagos, with its over 10 million

people who dump refuse indiscriminately. Some defecate and urinate in

open places. The city is regarded by many as one of the dirtiest in

the world. But the end is in sight! The Commissioner of the

Environment recently announced "illegal dumping of refuse to attract

six months imprisonment"!!! ...He boldly continued..."We cannot

continue to fold our hands and watch people desecrate our

environment...bla la bla...". Having laws has never been the problem

in Nigeria, we have them a`plenty, neither are long speeches.

Kano State is actually doing something about refuse disposal! A

workshop! ...organized in collaboration with InWent, a German based

organization. His Excellency, Governor Shekarau told participants that

government has invested millions of naira in trying to control refuse

dump in the state...no surprise there...

Not to be left out, the National Orinetation Agency (NOA) at the

weekend flagged off the South West Zone of "Keep Nigeria Clean"

campaign in Oshodi, Lagos. NOA is launching this campaign in all the

states.

Governor Ohakim brought the Senate President all the way from Abuja to

Owerri to launch his "Imo State Clean and Green programme". Ohakims's

goal... "working together, we shall recreate Imo State to become a

Garden State and Owerri, the jewel in its crown, into a sparking clean

and alluring metropolis, where flowers bloom and the fields

chlorophyll green all year round". Imo is on the march...

At least the Governors seem to have recognised the problem. Refuse

disposal is not rocket science, but it is not an easy endeavor either!

It needs strategic thinking and planning beyond once-in-a-month

"clean-up" days! It needs investment and expertise. Until we go beyond

the rhetoric...we will keep drowning in our own filth.

But with all the noise the Governors are making...can we be hopeful?

What role do we have to play? What is the use of building all the

mansions from Lekki phase 1 to 100 when we step out unto heaps of