Unless authorities move in immediately, a huge health challenge may occur in Oyo metropolis soon.
This is due to the fact that the level of sanitation among residents is so awful that streams have become refuse depot and schools have been turned latrines where people defecate openly.
Beside the fact that most residential buildings lack toilet facilities, there is no provision for waste disposal, as heaps of refuse litter everywhere.
As a result, residents defecate into nearby bushes, and streams, with offensive odour, accompanied by swarm of house flies, deepening the health challenges.
Some public primary schools in areas such as Isale Oyo, Jabata, Shanga and Sakutu Ogbegbe have been turned into latrines, as residents go there at night to pass out excreta.
On resuming the following day, teachers and pupils would not only pervade the offensive odour of the excreta, but are forced to clean the classrooms and wash the desks and tables before teaching could commence.
Recently, scores of teachers and pupils were reportedly admitted at private hospitals for cholera epidemics, though no casualty has been recorded.
Similarly, the dehumanising and unhygienic situation at the L .A. Primary School, Bola, Shanga area in the Oyo West local government area of Oyo State, if left unattended, will put lives of pupils and teachers in grave danger.
Investigation by our correspondent revealed that besides the fact that the school is not conducive for learning, a block of four classrooms have been turned latrines.
Whenever the school closes for the day, especially at weekends, some residents, who are fond of defecating at available open spaces, would move into the school and fill the compound with faeces.
Consequently, the pupils are forced to clean the excreta and inhale the offensive odour before they can settle down for class works.
Food vendors are also not helping the situation as the edibles are not being properly covered from swarm of houseflies emerging from the classrooms turned toilets and hovering round the premises.
The school is vulnerable to marauders as it has many entrances. The fencing cannot guarantee any security either as it is not high enough.
Interestingly, the school is very close to family compounds of
the immediate past Speaker, House of Assembly, Moroof Atilola, who is an indigene of the town.
It was reliably learnt that some pupils and teachers had fallen sick and were diagnosed of cholera at a private hospital due to emission of the pervading odour around the school premises.
Though the Headmaster could not be reached when
contacted thrice as she was said to be away on official assignments, but some of the teachers, who spoke on conditions of anonymity, hinted that several complaints had been lodged to appropriate quarters all to no avail.
“Honestly speaking, we are fed up with the situation because both our lives and the pupils are in grave danger due to the terrible unhygienic situation. Those who come to the school and pass-out excreta are not known and the bad habits continue unabated. You can imagine a school as old as it is being neglected and left in this situation.’’
Efforts to contact the Local Government caretaker chairman, for his comment were unsuccessful, as he was always said to be away to an undisclosed destination.
It is also interesting to know that Owode, the commercial nerve centre of the metropolis, can not boast of public toilets, except few private ones that charge between N20-N30.
There are four local governments (Afijio, Atiba, Oyo-East and Oyo-West) within the densely populated metropolis.
Though there are waste disposal vehicles that collect refuse at
designated areas every Thursday, which coincides with the weekly environmental sanitation, as directed by Governor Abiola Ajimobi, yet there are mountains of refuse scattered across the metropolis begging to be evacuated.
This, it was gathered, was as a result of the peoples’ care-free
attitudes to personal hygiene and environmental health as being vigorously pursued by the Ajimobi administration.
Equally worrisome is the magnitude of filthiness at the ancient Akesan Market where traders have to keep both the refuse and human wastes till the environmental day for evacuation.
There are no public toilets within the vicinity of the ancient
market, while the age-long architectural design of the market is capable of endangering lives and property of both the traders and numerous customers in case of fire outbreak.
When our correspondent visited the four local government secretariats to find out more from their Chief Environmental Officers, they declined comments.
But some officials of the councils, who pleaded anonymity, hinted that ‘presently none of the four local governments can boast of adequate health attendants to complement the efforts of environmental health officers’.
They stated further that “for instance, Atiba Local Government, the largest among the four could only boast of about seven health attendants and nine environmental health officers to cover all the ten wards in the area.
Meanwhile, the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi III, has advised Oyo State Government to ensure strict enforcement of enabling laws, regulations, and policies on environmental health.
This, Alaafin said, would not only prevent outbreaks of epidemics, but inculcate habits of healthy living among the people.
Speaking with our correspondent in his palace, Oba Adeyemi commended Ajimobi for his initiatives on environmental health programmes, noting that such laudable commitment could only come from a focused and progressive mind like the governor.
“One of the most disturbing aspects of our cities and town centres is their unhygienic conditions. Our people turn culverts, waterways, drainages into refuse dumps, while displaying their wares, even edible products in that filthy environment with attendant swarm of houseflies. Our people always appear gorgeous by putting on fine clothes, shoes and jewelry . But unfortunately, they do not take care of their environments. They only appear neat and decent only on
the surface. With these worrisome developments, what do you expect foreigners’ impressions about our people to be?’’
The paramount ruler further asserted that ‘’encouraging enough, it took the likes of Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State to display exceptional courage to clean up sixty to seventy percent of the state, and turn it into a modern city the country would be proud of. Today, this feat is being replicated by the God-given and dynamic governor of
Oyo State. Sadly enough, past administrations both at the state and local levels did not find it worthy of giving utmost considerations to environmental matters, let alone tackle them until the present administration came on board.’’
Oba Adeyemi, therefore, called on the people of the state, and residents of Oyo town in particular to give maximal support to the Ajimobi-led administration’s transformation agenda aimed at creating an environment that Yoruba Nation would be proud of.
