Sanitary conditions in most urban cities and rural areas
have deteriorated due to unsustainable hygienic measures. It is for this reason
that experts have tasked local government authorities, institutions, agencies
and stakeholders to pay more attention to the issue of sanitation in their
surroundings.
Sustainable waste management, a precursor to good
sanitation, is still a mirage because the federal government is yet to start
the conversion of Nigeria's industrial, municipal and domestic waste to wealth.
Some stakeholders have identified revival of the compulsory
monthly sanitation exercise, where people are made to clean their environment
on a particular day of the month, as a step towards achieving a better and
cleaner environment in the markets, streets and homes.
During President Muhammadu Buhari's first stint in
governance as a military head of state, he instituted the mandatory monthly
environmental sanitation exercise which took place from 7.00a.m. to 10.00a.m.
on every last Saturday of the month.
Environmental sanitations, according to WHO are efforts or
activities aimed at maintaining a clean, safe and pleasant physical environment
through water supply, excreta and sewage disposal, solid waste disposal, and
ensuring the safety of the environment in all human settlements towards the
promotion of social, economic and physical well-being of all sections of the
population.
Some residents who spoke to Daily Trust said the exercise,
which many clamour for its return, is presently being adopted in states like
Lagos and Edo and that it may go a long way in ensuring a cleaner environment
if adopted nationwide.
Sule Ojonugwa,an educationist, said when the exercise was in
place, there were no indiscriminate refuse dumps on streets as it is now,
saying people were mindful of where they dump their wastes because they are
responsible for the cleaning of the environment.
He said if the federal government could adopt the exercise
even if it is on two or three hours basis on a set day, the environment will
look much cleaner and healthier.
A trader in Jikwoyi, Hyacinth Ogbulonu, said though the
exercise is not being cherished by lots of traders because it is considered
half day for them, it will be a good one in checking people's attitude towards
waste disposal and cleanup.
Ogbulonu noted that he takes out time to clear the gutter
around his shop, which also motivates his neighbours to do same, and at the end
they all get the place cleared.
"The exercise can be revived and strict measures
imposed without restriction of movement, but the truth remains that it will be
more effective if movements are restricted," he said.
Another trader, who simply gave her name as Jane, said if
government can bring back the exercise, it will be good because people will be
on ground to help government officials clean the environment.
The Coordinant-General of Environmental Ethics & Safety
Corps (ESCORP), Mr. Emenike Eme, told Daily Trust that the corps would always
stand for the enforcement of compulsory sanitation exercise nationwide.
Eme noted that it is in the human nature for people not to
do what is expected rather they do that which they know will be inspected.
"If we know this and we don't want to enforce monthly
or regular sanitation exercise, we are not helping ourselves because if we
don't bring it back, diseases and infections will continue to increase in our
country," he said.
He pointed out that there is high resistant malaria caused
by mosquito bite, saying "with dirty environment, we will have more than
mosquitoes bite and then we will waste money attempting to cure."
All right thinking persons according to the coordinate
General, no matter their status in life or what excuse they have, should
consider the interest of the masses more important than any other thing.
"Let us help ourselves and bring back the monthly
compulsory sanitation exercise," he said.
According to a report tagged 'Conceptual Modelling of
Residents' Environmental Sanitation Behaviour in a Nigerian Metropolis' by a
lecturer with the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Oluwole Daramola, the
major determinant of residents' environmental sanitation behaviour was the
mandated environmental sanitation exercise.
Daramola said despite the positive contributions of the
monthly environmental sanitation exercise, residents need to know the
importance of daily environmental sanitation exercise, especially at the
household and neighbourhood levels.
Despite the calls, the federal government is yet to make a
statement on whether the policy will be revived or not, but there are feelers
that work is in progress on the issue of sanitation.
SOURCE DAILY TRUST
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