Makurdi the Benue state capital has the potential to become
a leading tourist destination in Nigeria it, is divided in half by a river and
plays host to two bridges that connect the north and south of Nigeria. Over the
years since the advent of democracy developing this potential in the least by
keeping the
town clean has been relegated to the back ground due to the type of
leadership that Benue state has had, in these years Makurdi has developed in terms
of population and businesses, the result of this development is an
unprecedented increase in the production of waste.
The benefits of cleanliness
and proper sanitation do not need elucidation, poor sanitation has been identified
as a cause of many diseases, a dirty and unhygienic environment does not only
affect its people physically but also psychologically, it is true that living
in a clean and healthy environment translates into mental and physical health
and vice versa. People are also naturally attracted to cleaner environments
than dirty ones.
Over the years Makurdi has become an eye sore as heaps of
waste have collected in the most unlikely places giving out dangerous odor and
in many cases blocking drainages and roads, all these has happened under the watchful
eyes of a Benue state urban development board and a waste management board.
Their reasons for failing to keep Makurdi clean are not farfetched from lack of
financial capacity and man power to carry out the effective disposal of waste,
this is as a result of a lack of will on the side of government and its people,
which have obviously failed to see the hand writing on the wall and overlooked
the importance of proper waste management thus allowing the town to degrade
into a dustbin.
The people of Makurdi are producing more waste that there is
means to dispose or manage this waste, and in the typical nonchalant “it is not
my business” attitude of our people they have resorted to methods of disposing
waste that are ridiculous and dangerous, these range from dumping waste on the
road, in drainages, in empty plots of land and in water bodies like the river Benue.in
many spots There are waste bins deposited by the waste management board that
are filled to capacity and sit on a heap of overflowing waste.
There have been attempts in the past to create programs for
effective disposal of waste, but such programs have failed for lack of
management and continuity amongst other reasons, obviously the people and
government of Benue state do not take waste disposal or management seriously
and they seem not to care about the negative effects of such an attitude on
their health and that of their children and the perception of visitors about
them. There are however one or two small companies that operate in some parts
of Makurdi and dispose the waste of residence regularly for a fee, this is a
very simple solution to a very serious problem. Partnering with private
companies to consistently manage, and or recycle waste, a solution that is long
overdue and needs to be implemented on a large scale.
The health and environmental implications of dumping waste
in our river are long and dangerous, this needs to be stopped as soon as
possible, there are great business opportunities in waste management, it is
only right that the change government deviate from the old way of doing things
and tap into these opportunities thus keeping Makurdi and indeed Benue state
clean for all. After crating a sustainable apparatus with private partnership for
the proper and consistent management of waste, government must propose and enforce
proper waste disposal laws and punish people who break them, keeping the
environment clean is a duty of all to all, a dirty environment is a risk and a
threat to all. Let’s keep Makurdi clean for now and for the future
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