By Olanrewaju Ayo, Akure
In commemoration of World Cleanup Day 2022, the Young African Leaders Initiative, YALI Network Ondo teamed up with several environmental advocacy organizations in Akure, Ondo State capital yesterday to sensitise market men and women on the need for proper waste disposal.
World Cleanup Day is a day that unites millions of volunteers, governments, and organizations in 191 countries of the world to tackle global waste problem and build a sustainable world.
Other organizations that participated in the exercise were Aquaworld, Elomgreenie, JCI Akure, NECOR, ACEF, and FSDI among others partnered with the Ondo State Waste Management Authority (ODSWMA).
The volunteers converged at Total filling station, Oba-Adesida road, Akure, with their cleanup materials and infographic used for sensitization.
The popular Oba-Adesida pedestrian bridge was kept cleaned up as well. Plastic bottles, nylons, and other single-used debris were retrieved for proper disposal.
Speaking during the exercise, the Ondo YALI Network Coordinator, Saheed Ibrahim encouraged individuals in the state to be conscious of the environment. He noted that people’s well-being depends on how safe the environment is.
He said: “The significance of World Cleanup Day is to ensure that we contribute our quotas to make sure the environment is clean and to make sure the environment is habitable for both man and animal. When you destroy the environment, you destroy lives.”
Ibrahim further said that both the systems in charge of waste disposal in the state and people disposing waste have some roles to play. He urged both parties to be alive to their responsibilities to ensure that our society is free of indiscriminate waste disposal and its many negative consequences.
The Protocol Officer for Aquaworld, Olutade Damilola also reaffirmed that observing the global cleanup day is good and will positively help the State in one way or the other. He reiterated that cleanliness starts in households.
“This morning, we have more than two or three organizations represented here. We as citizens should not wait on the government because we are the government. Most of the wastes found in the oceans, drainages, etc, come most of the time directly from our homes. We need to manage our waste bins,” Damilola remarked.
Speaking with a Health Officer, Mr. Igbasan Oluwatosin who was present at the scene with his colleagues said he was excited to see the youths having joined this global initiative and he advised citizens to take cleanliness as a daily routine.
“When we clean up our environment, we will be in good well-being because what we give to the environment is what the environment will give back to us. I plead with everyone, let’s always take good care of our environment and not leave it to the government alone,” said the health officer, Mr. Oluwatosin.
The Chiefgreenie of Elomgreenie, Kayode Ojelola commented that even though it was a voluntary exercise for these organizations to have come out to observe the world cleanup day, they still face some major challenges.
He said: “One of the major challenges we encountered was our inability to get help from government entities. We as NGOs have a role to play. The government’s role is to carry out policies which can be used to promote activities like this.”
“We walked up to them for trucks, but unfortunately they said that they don’t have a truck to give to us. If we have major trucks for this event, we would have to clean up more places we left untouched. We have youths who are willing to give their time, but the unavailability of trucks limited our activities to the ones we were able to achieve today,” Kayode disclosed.
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