Date: 2021-06-06

Kwara Government on Saturday intensified its campaign against indiscriminate disposal of waste, blockage of drainages and unwholesome environmental practices with the cleaning up of some streets in Ilorin as part of the activities commemorating World Environment Day.

The cleanup exercise, which was in collaboration with a nongovernmental organisation #PickThatTrash, had in attendance members of the House of Assembly; members of the State Executive Council; top government officials; state caretaker committee chairman of APC Alhaji Abdullahi Samari; a chieftain of the party Alhaji Yahya Seriki; and several other politicians.

Speaking with newsmen at Oja-Oba Ilorin, Kwara Speaker Yakubu Salihu said the Assembly would continue to collaborate with the executive arm to ensure a cleaner environment through budgetary provisions.

Yakubu-Danladi appealed to residents of the state to utilise all the equipment recently procured by the state government to avert flooding.

Commissioner for Environment, Mrs. Remilekun Banigbe, said the government has made huge investments in the environmental sector with the recent procurement of relevant equipment for refuse evacuation.

"We want our people to use the bins at different locations instead of disposing their refuse on the drainages. His Excellency Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq has provided different types of bins - roro bins and aluminum bins.

"I am appealing to the general public to make use of the bins. Trucks are available to pick them up and we have the personnel going round to also pick them when full. With clean environment, the state will be free from communicable diseases. Our drainage system will be free from dirt. It will also prevent flooding.

"Today is World Environment Day and this awareness is to enlighten people. We have done some awareness before and with this campaign we are showing our people how to bin their trash. So, we are urging our people to bin their trash and dispose it properly, " she said.

On the state government's partnership with #PickThatTrash, Banigbe said the group of young people are major stakeholders who could serve as information agents and partners for proper waste disposal in the state.

Kwara Team Lead for #PickThatTrash Baliqees Salaudeen emphasised the needs for residents to be more conscious of the environment, saying actions and inactions would impact negatively on the environment and businesses.

"#PickThatTrash partnered with the state government to sensitise the people on proper waste disposal and how to use roro bins the government has provided as today is World Environment Day. The roro bins are for proper waste disposal and we want the residents of Ilorin to use it properly," she said.

"We need to be conscious of our actions towards the environment because whatever we do, either good or bad, will still come back to us. Our campaign to the sellers around Oja-Oba market and the entire residents of Ilorin is that the way they dispose their refuse can affect their businesses and their homes respectively.

"We also call on landlords building houses to provide the necessary amenities that will aid proper evacuation of waste. Also, we urge the government to hasten evacuation of refuse from Roro bins.

"Since we launched #PickThatTrash in Kwara State in November 2018, we have organised series of sensitisation programmes and dialogues between the private sector and individuals and the government, and, so far, we have seen some changes. We have also organised clean ups in a number of markets in Ilorin.

"As a body, we believe we still need to do more because we see the issue of flooding and blockage of drainages. We will continue to do our best to sensitise the community to ensure a clean and safe environment.

We equally urge the government to continue to partner with non-governmental organisations, as they have done now, so as to bring up sustainable and technology approaches on how people can dispose of their waste." The participants picked refuse from Oja-Oba market through Surulere to part of Ibrahim Taiwo under a carnival-like atmosphere.