Anambra suffers environmental pollution, urban waste nightmare, says SWEEP President
By Uzor Odigbo
A recent study has revealed that Anambra State, one of the sprawling business districts in the South East of Nigeria is widely believed as the dirtiest and environmentally Challenged States in Nigeria.
This was made known recently by the President Statewide Waste and Environmental Education Foundation (SWEEP), Ambassador Obuesi Phillips in a recent seminar paper titled ‘The Anambra Waste Conundrum: A War Without Citizens Involvement’.
Obuesi said that despite the good intentions of government in dealing with the menace, the State continued to be littered with wastes, indicative that the solution lies beyond government arrests, fines and prosecution.
Barrister Obuesi noted that a cursory evaluation of the many suggested solutions to Waste management and disposal Challenges in Anambra State exposes the consistent absence of Citizens involvement in the calculation of policy formulators.
According to him, the Government mindset of attempting to do the job itself, or legislate sustainable waste management compliance remains at the root of its failure to address Challenges to the limitations.
Obuesi insisted that sustainable waste management solution without Citizens participation remains a mirage, as intended outcomes becomes impossible due to cultural and traditional lifestyles. The role of Citizens involvement is not just in raising public awareness for waste management, but it establishes a trust relationship between government, the people and the environment.
“As regrettable as that report is, it is, nevertheless, not without justification: the state was slowly becoming an urban nightmare, and a leading example of a city under the weight of environmental challenges including unsustainable lifestyles, irresponsible waste disposal habits and consumption patterns leading to urban flooding, blocked drainages and environmental pollution.
The paper reads
The Government at this point seemed to be at their wits end due to policy failures and failed interventions to address the menace over time.
Government’s frustration is becoming visible as the waste burden continues to grow.
“The opinion of Statewide Waste and Environmental Education Foundation (SWEEP Foundation) is that citizens are the missing link for a sustainable waste disposal and management regime in Anambra State.”
Citizens are the waste generators; citizens, therefore, must be at the centre of every governmental effort at resolving the Anambra environmental and waste disposal challenge.
However, two principal gaps stand in the way
1. A striking animosity between waste generators and waste collectors/service providers – the effects of many years of conflict of interests between the locals on the one hand, and the government on the other hand.
While the locals accuse the government/Operators of highhandedness, inconsistency in evacuation of wastes, and the use of rickety/disused trucks that litter the environment, government on their part accuse the locals of illicit dumping of wastes, refusal to pay waste bills and constant attacks on waste management personnel.
2. Government dependence on itself, its agencies and legislations and the force of law to address extant wastes and environmental challenge leaves the citizens out of the equation, resulting in citizens’ semi-sabotage of governmental efforts at addressing the challenge. In an attempt to rid Anambra State of its waste burden, the state government through its agencies have on several occasions threatened enforcement through prosecution of offenders, but feedback from the interactions of the SWEEP/ASWRA team with the people at the grassroot suggests that Anambrarians have grown thick skins for government and what they perceive as Government high – handedness and intimidating tactics.
The fact that despite the many direct interventions, legislations, regulations and policies Anambra State remains littered with wastes is indicative that the solution lies beyond the borders of government arrests, fines and prosecution. It is obvious that the citizens are knowingly or unknowingly sabotaging government’s efforts at waste management because of lack of education, trust and manifest governance gap”
What the government should be doing is to provide policy direction and logistic assistance to help communities reduce their solid waste stream.
The objectives will include to reduce the quantum of recyclable wastes that flow into the environment and possibly work to extract from the environment recyclable wastes that are already gone in.
If we must achieve the objectives of the Clean, Green and Sustainable Anambra State, then there should be concerted effort at introducing the grassroot population to waste and environmental education.
The efforts of the government in reducing the infrastructural deficit in the environmental sector will continue to suffer inadequacy unless the people at the grassroot level buy into and run with the vision of the government.
There cannot be a “buy-in” from the people without citizen’s active involvement, and there cannot be a people’s involvement when governmental policies are not people based.
Lack of trust in government has resulted in citizens disbelieving the government, and in some instances deliberately frustrating government’s initiatives aimed at addressing noticeable gaps.
Anambra State Waste Recyclers Association is only one of our planned interventions aimed at promoting widespread citizens education across Anambra State, and we call for your support in every way possible – including financial – as we dedicate ourselves and our corporate structures to help Government win this War Against Waste”.
