IN COMMEMORATION OF WORLD OCEANS DAY 2019

#WorldOceansDay is marked on the 8th of June annually. It comes days after World Environment Day which is held on the 5th of June all over the world.  

The debate on #ClimateChange is an endless one which I won't even bother going into, but there’s no gainsaying that waste management has become a herculean task for countries world over, Nigeria not being left out of the equation. Waste and its poor management has left the environment polluted in different ways. From plastic pollution, to air pollution, to sea, water or ocean pollution, the concerns keep rising. For this reason, the theme for this year’s #WorldEnvironmentDay2019 was #BeatAirPollution. Last year, it was #BeatPlasticPollution and the results from the awareness campaign launched are yet to be seen.

As the sources of resources keep changing, so the environment suffers. In Asia, #AirPollution is a major problem because of industrialization. This is because some countries use coal to generate power for their industries, which in turn leave the air polluted. It is as bad as people walking around wearing nose masks. One would have presumed that the air pollution concerns in the Niger Delta in recent times would be as a result of industrialization. Alas, it is far from industrialization and has its roots etched in greed and corruption. Rivers State has battled with soot for years now. This was a phenomenon that was alien to us until illegal refining of crude oil increased within the region. With the increase in crude refining of crude oil by ‘yet to be identified persons’, came the increase in air pollution and agitations to #StoptheSoot. As the call to #StoptheSoot lingers, the health implication and effect of particulate matter in the air also remains unabated.

This is not necessarily a post about the soot, so I’ll just move on because it seems those at the helm of affairs care less about the people they govern, else the soot would have been taken care of long ago.

Now, the attitude of the masses is another thing to worry about. The numerous radio jingles and talks about the need to bag our waste right from the home front have fallen on deaf ears. People still live like they are in the primitive age and in the forest where they just throw things anyhow. One would think that education has done a lot in the area of enlightening the people on manners as well as self-consciousness. But no! It hasn’t done much in that area. Even in vicinity where there are institutions of learning, communities housing students and lecturers alike, ‘worthiness of character’ has not been achieved, not to mention it being transferred to the not so literate business owners within such an environment. Gutters and drainage have easily become dumping grounds, and I presume this is because of the absence of designated dumping points or proper management system like having persons go house to house to collect these wastes, for instance. After the gutters take in these wastes, they find their way to the canals, rivers, and oceans of course. What happens afterwards? Fishes eat them. Some die, while some end up on our tables and eventually our stomach. I need not say what happens afterwards, but experts have it that some cancers are borne out of this cycle.

Now, let’s examine an environment like the University of Port Harcourt, which is sandwiched between Choba and Aluu communities. You cannot find waste dumped indiscriminately within its campuses, but just step out, especially to an area like Aluu and you’ll meet the shock of your life (at least if you still have your senses working just fine). Right from one of the main entrances to the university towards the compounds and clans that make up the Aluu community, you find waste dumped in the gutters. You can only blame the residents of these places, both those living and doing business there. Since it’s a school environment, it is a good market place where lots of businesses thrive.

So, for instance, the hostel buildings just by the major road into the area is laden with shops at their front, from salons to provision stores, tailoring shops, patent medicine stores, laboratories, drink depots, computer centres, boutiques, mechanics, spare parts shops and even churches. These are businesses you can see on one side while driving by. But on the other side, what do you find? Thrash, thrash and more thrash. Just in case you don’t know what ‘thrash’ is, I mean refuse, waste or better still, dorty! Sometimes you see grasses, or the gutter that’s supposed to be visible for a greater part of the stretch of road.

Now, let’s start from the gutter just outside one of the main entrances of the school, where a car park is situated. Something remarkable happened here recently. The gutter had been clogged for months because plastic bottles, cans, waterproof bags and all sorts of refuse had been dumped in it. I took note of it and felt sad that everyone was turning a blind eye to it. Everyone pretended to be blind, save for a deaf and dumb artisan who I found cleaning it up one fateful Saturday. I recognized him because I have patronized him before, that was when I took my bag to him to amend. I didn’t become his customer because I noticed he had a temper. I actually didn’t understand then that this was a tendency for some disabled persons. Well, thank God I now know better. So, this person living with some disabilities was the one I found cleaning up the gutter.

I checked the following Monday and the thrash he got out was cleared. I was glad, but not for long. Few days later, the sorry sight returned. Now this may be as a result of the rains pushing the dirt from the area he didn’t clear to where he had done some work. Tell me, do you think this man would want to be so patriotic again?

Lest I forget, I have happened upon some refuse trucks on the Aluu road, evacuating thrash on some days. I have not taken note of how frequent they do this, but I think it’s clumsy. I mean, is it so difficult for the Local Government Council to have a refuse disposal policy or provide receptacles for this area? Or are they waiting for the landlords to take care of the sanity of their areas? If they are, how are they enforcing this? To say the least, that stretch of road is an eyesore and nobody cares. The other day it didn’t just rain, it poured heavily and because the drainage have been occupied by illegal tenants, the roads got flooded. I had to lift my feet up as water was entering the vehicle I boarded.

This may just be a tip of the iceberg given that there has been a flood warning for some Local Government's in the state.

Truth is, we cannot wait for the State Government to do everything, just as we cannot wait for the Federal Government to do everything. There was some sense of relief when the State Governor expressly declared a state of emergency on the environment during his second term inauguration speech on May 29, 2019. He said:

“I wish to emphasize that we will no longer tolerate those who continue to degrade and undermine our rights to live in a clean, healthy and safe environment.

“We are, therefore, reminded to declare a state of emergency on the environment and tackle all forms of degradation, nuisance and irresponsible behaviour occasioned by individuals, companies and other agencies, both public and private.”

But do we believe there will be a change even after the government in his first term charged Local Government Chairmen to have environmental sanitation as a key focus and they failed woefully?

Since the Local Government are heading towards being autonomous, can they at least begin to take charge of some certain things like the environment? Can residents and business owners also become more responsible? If they can’t on their own, can the authorities help them by sanctioning offenders as they promised some donkey years ago? #TogetherWeCan