The grace period of two weeks to remove loudspeakers, following the recent directive of the Oyo State government, following the enforcement of Section 58 of the Oyo State Environmental Sanitation and Waste Control Regulation (No. 6, Vol. 38 of 2013), targeted at curbing noise pollution of religious houses, entertainment outfits expired three weeks ago. Rita Okonoboh, in this report, examines the consequences of such pollution and level of compliance.
Mrs Hannah Oluwatobi stirred from sleep, her dreams punctuated by the steadily rising sounds emanating from her backyard. All she thought to herself was ‘not again.’ She had delivered a stillbirth barely two weeks ago and she had returned home just the day before from the hospital. All she wanted to do was sleep and forget her trasic experience for the time being.
Her husband raised his head from the report he was working on at his laptop, opened the curtain slightly, shook his head, and turned to where his wife slept. He saw her turn again, re-adjusted the pillows. Although he couldn’t pick the sounds of her quiet sobbing, which had been drowned by the praise session which had just begun from the next-door church, from the way her chest was heaving, he knew she was crying again. He went to her and held her.
For the next three hours, as the church, located around Orita-Challenge, Ibadan, Oyo State, alternated between screams of divine supplication and praises, , the man cursed under his breath angry at everyone that had contributed to add to his misery.
“I’m a Christian and my church holds vigils. But for goodness sake, my church isn’t located in a residential area. Sometimes, we hide under the excuse of the divine to deliberately frustrate our neighbours. How can you make so much noise, for hours on end, knowing you are located in what should be a strictly residential area? It was bad enough we lost our first child to stillbirth, after so many miscarriages, and we were trying to understand why, in spite of prayers and fasting. It’s absolutely unfair what these religious houses do to us,” Mr Sesan Oluwatobi lamented to Sunday Tribune.
Many residents of Oyo State are still in this family’s shoes. Three weeks after the expiration of an ultimatum issued by the state government for religious houses and others to remove their horn speakers.
Sunday Tribune investigations revealed that most of the culprits are not in a hurry to comply as a muslim cleric spoken to at a mosque in Oluyole Estate, Ring Road, Ibadan simply told our reporter that the mosque won’t remove the speakers.
“That is what we use to call people to prayers, we won’t remove it,” the man who refused to tell us his names said, declining to speak on whether he was aware of the government ultimatum or not.
Mr Godfrey John works night-shifts as a guard, four days a week at a printing company. He comes home at around 6:30am, and all attempts to sleep have been snatched from his grip by the church sandwiched between his house and the next. The church recently organised a programme tagged, “Divine August Visit: My Time Has Come. They held special services on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays for the whole of August, in the mornings and evenings. His attempt to appeal for consideration during the first week was met with scorn. He has given up complaining. As he narrated his experience to Sunday Tribune, he yawned at intervals, and kept rubbing his bloodshot eyes.
“Sometimes, funny as it seems, I think the noise from the church is a deliberate attempt to frustrate me. They have tried repeatedly to convince me to attend the church, but I have always told them I already have a church I attend. Now, I see the looks they give me when I walk by and I simply laugh.
It doesn’t end there for Godfrey. On the three days he works the day shift, according to him, “I get back quite late at night and I want to catch as much sleep as I can. However, even if I don’t have to be up till about 7am, I can’t help being up as soon as the Muslim call to prayer sounds in my backyard. It is ironic that I am surrounded by religious houses and I only feel resentment towards them,” he stated.
“Gooooaaaallll…,” came the resonating screams at Yusuf’s compound, located in one of the popular Ibadan communities.
Alhaji Jelili Yusuf is a pensioner, whose building houses a barbing salon-cum-viewing centre-cum-music store. It took repeated screams to speak with him, and he shouted his responses in return. He not only has the problem of loud music blasting from the speakers from the barbing salon, he also has to battle with the influx of those who came to watch football matchs, especially at night and their ringing cheers as they celebrated goals.
“What can I do? I’m sure my hearing has been impaired by the constant noise that does not seem to end. I heard that loudspeakers have been banned, but when I spoke to the owner of the place, he simply ignored me and said the directive wasn’t for him,” Alhaji Yusuf stated.
That 14-day ultimatum
The Oyo State government, through the state Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, Mr Isaac Ishola, on Tuesday, August 15, gave a two-week ultimatum for the removal of external loudspeakers to address noise pollution emanating from mosques, churches, disc jockeys, aside from that of telecommunication companies, generating sets and vehicular hooting.
Lamenting the non-adherence of some religious houses to the directive after the two-week warning lapsed, especially as it concerns vigils and calls to prayer, Mr Godfrey decried the failure of the government to monitor, and enforce compliance, even as many of the affected establishments are yet to acquire acoustic furniture, internal speakers and erect padded walls to minimise noise.
Despite that Ishola, alongside Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, Mr Toye Arulogun, and Special Adviser to Governor Abiola Ajimobi on Communication and Strategy, Mr Yomi Layinka, agreed that disc jockeys and gyms were included among those who exceed stated decibels of sound production, and that those found guilty would have their places sealed up, while owners of such establishments would be required to sign an undertaking before such houses were reopened, the noise abuse has continued in the state.
We can have true worship without outdoor speakers –Oyo CAN chairman
Affirming the position of government, Chairman of the Oyo State Chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), who is also the District Coordinating Council Superintendent, Pastor Benjamin Olayiwola Akanmu, noted that before the August 15 directive, government officials had, contacted CAN on addressing noise pollution by churches.
I was called by the Commissioner for Environment in Oyo State and we were addressed the need to control noise pollution as it affects CAN. I invited our people for a meeting and explained to them the need to reduce noise in churches. I think maybe because some people refused to comply, is the reason why government is now letting the law take its course.
What we can do now is to advise our people to obey the government directive. The ban on loudspeakers will not affect the church. We can have true worship without necessarily using external loudspeakers. The sermon is focused on people inside the church. Anything that will cause people outside the church headache should be dissuaded. For evangelism at dawn and other times, you know those people aren’t stationed at a place. They move about and it usually lasts a few minutes so, I don’t think that would really fall into that category” Pastor Akanmu stated.
Banning loudspeakers, not serious challenge for Muslims —Alhaji Akintola
Alhaji Moshood Akintola of the National Council of Muslim Youth Organisations (NACOMYO), speaking with Sunday Tribune stated that there was ongoing sensitisation programmes for Muslims on the need to comply with the directive.
“We are educating Muslims on the need to comply with the regulation .Aside the call to prayer, there is no other thing we use loudspeakers for. The loudspeakers are just to gets them to come for prayers, it is not to disturb neighbours. For me, Muslims don’t see it as a serious challenge. We will just adjust our programmes and educate the people. Ordinarily, some people expressed fears about the directive, but we have been going round to sensitise our people. Besides, we may not use external loudspeakers but just stick to indoor speakers during prayers. The ban on loudspeakers does not affect any part of the Islamic doctrine, not in any way,” Alhaji Akintola stated.
Ban, welcome development —Revd Fr Adedigba
Director of Communication, Catholic Archdiocese of Ibadan, Reverend Fr Felix Adedigba, supports the development, stating that religious houses generate a lot of noise in Oyo State.
“It’s a known fact that religious grounds — churches and mosques – generate a lot of noise in the state. Government’s ban on external loudspeakers is, therefore, a welcome development. It’s step in the right direction. States around us have enacted such laws to curtail ‘insanity’ which Nigerians call religion. Government has tolerated this for long, and the whole place has been in disarray. Because of noise pollution, residents are stressed on daily basis. Some have gone mad and many have died untimely. Government should ensure that this law is enforced impartially. When we go to churches or mosques, it is to talk to God. We need not make noise before talking to God. The Catholic Church believes in quiet prayer. God is not deaf, that we have to make noise during worship. There is nowhere that Jesus, our God and role model, made noise while praying. Our society has simply lost the essence of praye. That it is why we have turned religious places to noise factories. We are uncharitable when we disturb others by noisy worship. At the same time, other places, such as night clubs and residences that generate noise should not be spared,” Adedigba stated.
Govt should sensitise people —Archbishop Stephen
Archbishop Michael Stephen of the Methodist Church Nigeria (MCN), noted that the ban wasn’t a bother to the MCN, stating that, in fact, people were becoming uncaring and careless about noise pollution.
“I believe it is important to sensitise the people on the ban on loudspeakers. I think we are becoming careless about noise pollution and uncaring about the impact on neighbours. I think that the government should come out, through a national broadcast so that people will not misinterpret the intention of government,” he stated.
Reacting to claims by some pastors that the ban would hinder the work of evangelism, Archbishop Stephen stated that there were other ways to evangelise without making noise.
“Social media has managed to reach millions of people than the megaphones or loud speakers can reach. We have to constantly explore new ways of preaching the gospel, we don’t have to be stereotyped. I think the clerics should recognise the rights of other people to live in a serene environment and on that, I agree with the directive. Everything must be done to ensure tranquility, I will not want us to wage war against the government, but maintain peace in the state,” Stephen stated.
Simmering tension between Muslims and Christians on the ban
Alfa Mikhail Ade told Sunday Tribune that the recent ban had caused some rift of sorts in Apata area of Ibadan, Oyo State. According to him, following the directive, the mosque in the area had removed their outdoor speaker, but when the church in the area refused to remove theirs, the mosque went ahead to re-fix their outdoor speaker.
He called on the Oyo State government to be impartial in effecting the law, irrespective of religion, in the interest of maintaining peace in the state.
A popular club owner in Ibadan, who did not want his name in print, noted that the ban does not affect his outfit, even if the place is located in a residential area. He told Sunday Tribune that he had applied for a ‘change of view’ for the club, and the noise that comes from speakers is restricted to the confines of the club environment.
We make money with noise —Shop owner
Describing himself as the Chief Executive Officer of Slimz and Cutz Barbing Salon, in Oyo State, Mr Seun Olumide, whose barbing outfit houses an array of outdoor speakers, beautifully arranged in front of his shop, and blasting with the latest tunes from popular musician, Olamide’s Wo, said he heard something slightly related to the ban, but had simply decided to ignore it until he got an official notice from government.
“I thought it was only churches and mosques that are affected. I know there are people living around me, but no one has really said I bother them. In fact, I make a living from the noise that emanates from these speakers,” Seun stated, absentmindedly caressing the top of the black box closest to where he sat, in front of his shop.
“My sister, it’s not noise as you describe it. It’s simply entertainment. I sell music discs, and the ‘noise’ is the best way to let people know we have the latest songs I have also opened up a spot for charging phones, thank goodness that the light in this area is spoilt,” he stated, laughing heartily.
Seun is not alone in his conviction. A cross-section of his contemporaries, who also deal in the music and movie CD business, supported his claim, with another barber, who simply identified himself as JBoy, noting that “we play these things when people go about their business of the day, with cars honking all over the place, sirens blaring here and there, so, who are we really disturbing?”
Aside the obvious irritation noise pollution causes, health experts have linked the menace to mental challenges, hypertension, sleep disturbances, hearing loss, among other health challenges. It is only hoped that government takes the appropriate steps, keeping in mind that there are no sacred cows, to ensure that Oyo State becomes as noise free as possible, once and for all.
—Additional report by Blessing Abiodun
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