Kazeem Badmus
MAJOR roads in Osogbo, capital of Osun State and other towns in the state have become dirty in the absence of community service workers.
OSUN DEFENDER noted that members of the Osun Youth Empowerment Scheme (OYES) who were sacked by Governor Ademola Adeleke, had for years been responsible for the cleaning of the roads.
It would be recalled that Adeleke on February 16, 2023, dissolved the state youth empowerment scheme, and replaced it with Imole Youth Corps, laying off the youths engaged by the scheme then.
The absence of replacement for the laid-off youths has turned the roadsides into an eyesore, it was noted.
The medium observed that roadsides in Osogbo have become dirty and bushy due to the absence of those cleaning them.
OSUN DEFENDER observed that roadside at Estate, Dele Yes Sir, Igbona, Ota Efun and Kobongbongbe of Osogbo, Ikirun, headquarters of Ifelodun local government and Ile-Ife were littered with dirt, especially empty table water plastics and nylons during visitations on Wednesday and Thursday.
Speaking with the medium, a resident of Ota-Efun, Osogbo who identified himself as Jacob Emmanuel, urged the state government to provide a short-term solution to cleaning the roadsides, pending the time it will roll out its long-term plans.
Emmanuel who noted that the state’s roadsides were getting too dirty and bushy also appealed to residents to stop dumping wastes on the roadsides.
He said: “Almost all the busy roadsides in Osogbo are dirty and bushy now because those responsible for cleaning and clearing them have been sacked. I know the present government will have its reasons for laying them off but I believe there should be an alternative or short-term solution before the Governor will recruit other people.
“Our people should also assist the government by not dumping waste on the roadsides. An unkept environment can lead to lots of danger”.
A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ile-Ife, Sikiru Yunusa, called on the state government to return the OYES cadets, saying they were laid off unjustly.
“It’s more than five months now and the Governor has not recruited anyone to replace the unjustly sacked O’YES cadets. The Governor should just accept he made a mistake and recalled the sacked cadets”, he stated.
A trader at Ikirun, headquarters of Ifelodun local government, Alhaja Monisola Lawal, told the medium that it has dawn on some people that the OYES cadets were doing great work with the cleaning of the roadsides.
She said: “Some people see those in charge of cleaning the roads among the sacked OYES cadets as below the ladder; they underrated and undervalued them. But everybody is now appreciating their work because it is an open fact that our roads are becoming dirty everyday. The roadsides are littered with waste which is not supposed to be.”
