ONE amazing experience I have had being an ardent writer is that sometimes I get exhausted with issues, particularly on social and human interest issues to write about. This long existing writing challenge seldomly discourages my ability along side interest to further write, but on the other hand, it places on me an understandable amity between my brain and my intrapersonal communication voice. This personal section eventually produces laudable topics to write on, worthy enough for a permanent social change or moral development, if the written message gotten from the write-up is effectively absorbed and reacted to positively by the targeted audience. So I commend my brainstorming section for giving me this quite disturbing topic that I will subsequently present to the readers of this page for a professional peck. Ladies and gentlemen, it is commonly found in the rural area, its presence is always felt in the urban areas in the country, it is poor attitude to environmental sanitation.
Permit me to pen that the avoidable gruesome attitude towards environmental sanitation either exhibited inadvertedly or deliberately by Nigerians is highly alarming as well as crass, fostering an offshoot of rapid increase in environmental health hazards, (like Lassa fever etc) with gay outlook of general uncleanness, impressed among fastidious visitors and some fastidious civilized residents commonly found in dirtiness affected states in the country. The conspicuous state of waste littered in both the minor and major streets in the country potently aggravate a contradictory smudge on the esthetic face of cities or major areas found in the country.
Interestingly, the perpetrators of this gross immorality are acclaimed good, in fact uncorrupt Nigerians who will always at any slight opportunity agitate for what they regularly describe as: a corruption and crime free Nigeria. And if the platform for their agitation elevates from a common but important roadside palmwine/local gin bar to an exorbitant hotel clubs; social political events; on social media, eventually on books publication, these set of acclaimed patriotic Nigerians will only centre their malicious chatter on the lingering change noted in the government, the attitudes of the Nigerian police officers, the speculated missed 2016 Budget, how to improve the Super Eagles, who will win in an electoral contest etc. None of their discursions will reflect the need for environmental sanitation and how to support government in enforcing it.
Moreso, the social banter of the group of individuals hardly encompasses how the culture of environmental cleanliness could be passed down to the young generations. Had it been this invaluable cultural habits was trained on children, it would have gone a long way in ensuring an exercised informal education which would have been enviously bent to responsibly complement the formal education delivered at schools. It was reportedly noticed that the high rate of societal uncleanness has been having also, a contributory boost by visitors who hardly regard the war against streets, cities, or residence slovenliness. Then it’ll appear poor attitude to environmental slovenliness in affected states, places the state as a governed state where people live thereby making it as a way of life amongst the people. Though there has been argument by concern Nigerians that the attributive cause of environmental dirtiness is solely on the increase in rural areas located in dirtiness prone states, the truth is, it is effectively fostered in slums commonly found in the heart of the cities.
In view of the discussions at hand, it behoves not only legislators found in these dirtiness prone states to utilize their law making powers to help bring about an environmentally sustainable polity, equally too, we citizens as potential beneficiaries of a sanitized system to participate in the process of law making and observance. The Federal Environmental Protection Agency Act No. 14 of 1999, earlier finding life as No. 58 of 1988 and FEDA decree No. 59 of 1992 respectively is instructive and pertinent to reference on this environmental protection issue. This act encourages any step to environmental sanitation, hence the legislators should create a law in these prone states for the establishment if an agency saddled with the unbias responsibility to making sure that no pedestrian dispose of any scrap, paper, newspaper, candy wrapper, fruit skin and similar refuse anywhere except in the provided litter bins.
In addition, the agency will ensure that every owner tenant, occupant of any building must keep clean the side walks into the streets, along side the building’s frontage, sides and back all the time not litter sweep out, or throw ashes, refuse, paper, mylon and rubbish into any street public place or vacant plot. They will be obligatory that all commercial vehicles carry litter bins and no person should dispose of refuse or waste except through a private sector participation operator and nobody leaves slit, earth or other materials excavated during construction or maintenance of drain on the road side beyond 48 hours.
To complement this prognosticative agency intensive and effective environmental sanitation reorientation has to be regularly campaigned to dwellers in unclean states found in the country. I deemed if fit for a considered place of environmental awareness and conscientisation as a working process towards that end. However, government(s) have indeed done much through advertisement bills this is not enough. Not only does this need to be reiterated, the message has to be reinforced through popular mass media like music, films, social media.
A public writer on contemporary issues, Jide Alabi once wondered “why a quarterly bi-annual award of best environmental clean street, district, business premises, local government council, cannot be initiated through some public/private or purely private initiative”. A sanitation lottery of sort should be established. Everybody in the dirtiness prone states who wishes to be a part in the venture will register online or through text message. They will also send a picture showing the effort they have been making to make sure their immediate surroundings are clean, via MMS or online. Thus for this purpose, although people may work individually, they’ll be encouraged to work as teams. Then on a monthly basis government inspectors will go out to arduously inspect and reward the cleanest residence.
Some Nigerians poor attitudes to environmental sanitation reminds me of a one time differing approach taken by two European countries, reflecting compliance to environmental sanitation. The countries where England and Germany with respect to tax administration. Whereas the former leans more towards persuasion and appeal to the societal values of British public, the latter is more force driven with it emphasis on tax enforcement using the uncorrupt police. We can take a leaf from the British perhaps we will have to wait for some hundred odd years before the average Nigerians imbibe the values germane to an enviable clean environment or they can go the way of the Germans using coercive effort as this could be effort the better option.
All in all, our sanitation law needs to be rigorously enforced. In fact, if need be, scapegoats should be made of some people to serve as a deterrent to others. In that instance, not only will people be mindful to make sure that they observe environmental sanitation laws individually, but also proactive in stopping others from contravening them. This holds true especially where not doing this could lead to they themselves being punished, where they fail to stop somebody else from littering their gutters and building areas. God bless Nigeria!.