Often times, I have been at the forefront of advocacy for government to own up to her responsibilities in tackling the menace of waste collection which has bedeviled our environment in recent years. It is interesting to see how the Omituntun 2.0 is responding as they have moved from creating awareness on different radio and online platforms to breaking the monopoly of having a single waste management contractor collecting our wastes to about 10.
For an administration that prides itself on prompt reaction to issues being raised, it is commendable to see the decline in the amount of black spots that we used to have within the city centre and our road median steadily becoming a shadow of her usual self.
It is in this line that I am using this medium to call on the good people of the Ibadan to see themselves as major stakeholders as we can play a crucial role in sustainable waste management by reducing, reusing, and recycling of waste. We can minimize our waste by practicing responsible consumption habits, segregating recyclables, and composting organic matter.
We are getting past the era of illicit dumping as anyone caught by the new Sheriff in town will be made to pay 50,000 naira fine or risk other sentences. The amount of calls I receive on weekly basis to help reach out to the commissioner for mercy by victims is increasingly growing and this feels so shameful for me to put a call through to someone I publicly drag for not doing his job well.
We as citizens cannot continue to advocate for better waste management policies without willingness to support initiatives that promote sustainability in our communities which enforcements becomes one of the major fulcrum of actualizing some of these goals.
Image Location: Ojoo Ibadan
Date: 10th April, 2024
Idris Animasaun
Architect and Social Change Advocate
