THE President-General, Central Council of Ibadan Indigenes (CCII), Chief Wole Akinwande, has called on the administrators of local government areas in Oyo State to be alive to their responsibility of proper management of environmental affairs in the state.
Chief Akinwande made the call while speaking with journalists when he led members of the association on an exercise tagged: “Make Ibadan Clean.”
The exercise, as part of the programme marking Ibadan Festival 2017, took members of CCII from Gate to Ali-Iwo, Gbenla, Oje, Labiran, Beere and Mapo.
Members of the association, who participated in the exercise, adorned a special T-shirt with the inscription: “Make Ibadan Clean”, while sweeping some sections of the roads and the median from Gate to Mapo.
In an interview, Chief Akinwande said the volume of waste generated in Ibadan was too much and that concerned authorities needed to increase the frequency at which they clear refuse in the city.
He said: “The volume of waste generated in Ibadan is too much so we must increase the speed of evacuation. Nevertheless, the volume is high everywhere in the country, go to Lagos and elsewhere, even overseas. Everyday, vehicles come around when I was in London.
“When you are at work, they are at home clearing the rubbish. It is the volume of waste not that the people refuse to comply with policies intended to make the city clean. Everybody likes cleanliness, so it is not a deliberate effort to be dirty.
“Local governments must be ready to take care of their territories. Environmental issue is local government affair. There is dirt everywhere because the local governments appear incapable so the state government is taking it over.
“People should make cleanliness a priority. Also, contractors should improve the quality of their vehicles and move frequently. In many places where refuse collectors go and the people pay for their services, at times, they go there once a month, this is not enough, they should make it weekly, even if it means we have to pay more.”