Last Saturday’s direct involvement of the Acting General Manager, Benue State Environmental Sanitation Authority (BENSESA), Mr. Anta Igbaato, in the Monthly Sanitation Exercise was a perfect reflection of leading by example. During and after the exercise, the social media space was awash with images of the acting BENSESA boss desilting drainages and removing garbage on the streets of Makurdi.
The Benue State Environmental Sanitation Law (2005) provides, among other things, that sanitation exercises shall be held on every last Saturday of the month. However, there are times when the sanitation authority, a creation of the law, declares a Sanitation Day free to allow residents to go about their business, especially on days of public importance, mourning, or for whatever reasons the authority deems necessary.
In time past, and as it became the tradition with previous managers of the authority, sanitation days became synonymous with days to arrest offenders or violators of the Sanitation Day Exercise. Rarely did the authorities work on sanitation days other than hiring long vehicles from Benue Links Company Limited to arrest those who go about their normal businesses on sanitation days, with a Mobile Court convened to try the offenders.
Mr. Igbaato’s involvement in the last Sanitation Day exercise reflects a sharp departure from the status quo. It also raises issues of concern that need urgent attention to remedy.
Firstly, the question of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). Apart from the manager, who was wearing a face mask, the majority of the other staff, be they permanent staff, temporary staff, or volunteers, did not wear any protective gear. This is dangerous to health, especially in our present-day society where sewage and solid waste of all kinds, including hospital waste, litter our environment.
BENSESA will do well in providing PPEs for its staff members because only healthy people can work.
Another issue is the question of supervision. According to the sanitation law, every resident is expected to participate in sanitation exercises. The law does not expressly exempt the governor, deputy governor, chief judge, or the speaker and members of the state assembly. It is, therefore, the duty of the authority to monitor and ensure that the provision of the Sanitation Day exercise is complied with. Only by monitoring will the real offenders of the law be identified and appropriate sanctions applied.
Arresting people on Sanitation Days, in my view, is inappropriate because it is possible some of those arrested may have been on their way to their places of work for the exercise. The authority will do well to continue to participate in the exercise as the new sheriff did and go out the following Monday for the purpose of ascertaining if it was complied with by residents. Those found not to have complied would have had the law to contend with. This way, more and more people will participate, especially since humans sometimes appear to be more inclined to be compelled to do what they should ordinarily do without coercion.
Generally, the tempo with which Mr. Igbaato has come into office is impressive. It is hoped that he will keep it up while giving waste management and sanitation education the attention they deserve. This is necessary for a clean and healthy environment, and like the authority’s motto, Cleanliness is next to Godliness.
