Residents Query Govt’s Commitment To Healthy Living Over ‘Dirtiness Of Osogbo

Residents of Osogbo have lamented what they described as the unbecoming dirty condition of the state capital, querying the commitment of Governor Ademola Adeleke’s administration to healthy living. 

The residents noted that major roads, especially market areas in Osogbo, were becoming an eyesore, adding that heaps of refuse were being dumped daily on the median of the roads without prompt evacuation by operatives of the Osun Waste Management Agency. 

They accused the state government of exhibiting an ‘I don’t care attitude’ about the dirty nature of Osogbo, as it has refused to address the situation.

Some residents who spoke with OSUN DEFENDER urged the government not to allow the state capital to slide into a dirty city, saying the standard of a clean and healthy environment that Governor Ademola Adeleke met should be maintained. 

The residents, however, chastised some people for littering and dumping refuse on the roads, saying such practices are uncivilised and should be discouraged. 

They tasked the government with enforcing a stiffer penalty for the people who engage in such practice, saying those littering the roads, refused to stop because there is no penalty for violators.

They urged the state government to see environmental cleanliness as a priority, adding that the state House of Assembly should also come up with a law that would prevent people from indiscriminately dumping refuse on the road.

A resident of Ataoja Estate, Osogbo, Olamiju Adebanjo, who spoke with the medium at the popular Igbona market on Tuesday, said the environment and sanitation sector in the state needed urgent attention. 

Adebanjo, who spoke in Yoruba, noted that places like Igbonna, Ayetoro, Ogo-Oluwa, and MDS were always dirty, with traders dumping refuse indiscriminately on the road without anybody questioning them.

She said: “If you pass through Igbonna on Wednesday morning before the refuse collectors come around, you will always see heaps of refuse. It is always an eyesore. I don’t know how people will be left unquestioned to do whatever they like. 

“What I find difficult to answer is: are those in government not seeing what is happening and the dirty state of Osogbo? It has never been this bad. 

“From Ayetoro to MDS, to Ogo-Oluwa, everywhere is too dirty. And if not for the waste management officials who do come to pack the refuse, the situation would have been indescribable. 

“The state government should rise and take the cleaning of our environment seriously. Our lawmakers should also make a law that would give punishment to those littering our environment,” he said. 

Another resident, Olabisi Adeyemo, said the Ministry of Environment needed to come up with a solution to the dirtiness of the state capital. 

According to her, “The Commissioner and his team need to come up with a solution on how to tackle this menace. It is embarrassing that the state capital is as dirty as this. 

“I don’t know what their limitations are, but whatever they are, the state governor needs to help the ministry tackle them. Most of the markets in Osogbo are too dirty, and it has a direct impact on the health of the residents who mostly visit the market.”

Meanwhile, OSUN DEFENDER has observed the absence of most of the trucks being used by the state government to evacuate refuse on the road. 

The medium noted that the majority of the vehicles were no longer functioning. 

Findings revealed that the vehicles were faulty and had been abandoned at a mechanic workshop in the Aisu area of Ede, Osun State. 

It was gathered that only one of the trucks is serving the Government Secretariat, Abere, and the entire Osogbo, a development that led to the delay in packing refuse by the waste management officials.

A worker with OWMA, who does not want her name in print because she was not authorised to speak, told the medium that it was becoming difficult for them to clear all the refuse in Osogbo due to the shortage of trucks.

The worker noted that most of the waste evacuation vehicles were no longer roadworthy and needed to be replaced, while additional ones should be bought to make the work easier.