Paradise lost

From Judex Okoro, Calabar

In the beginning, Calabar, the capital of Cross River State, was branded the People’s Paradise because of its green and clean environment. However, it has suddenly been turned into a city of refuse and waste dumps. Calabar, also known by the sobriquet, ‘Come-and-live-and-be-at-rest,’ is now ‘Come-and-live-with refuse-and-wastes.’

The Canaan City, which used to flow with “milk and honey,” full of bliss and delight, now flows with heaps of refuse and waste in every nook and cranny. Residents can no longer live comfortably in their houses because of stench oozing from garbage heaps.

The paradise seems to have been lost since 2015 when Prof. Ben Ayade took over the mantle of the state. The well-trimmed greens and clean lawns and the canopy trees that added beauty and colour to the environment are gradually disappearing. The once touted number one Nigerian tourism destination point seems to be losing its first position in the hospitality industry as the aesthetics that made it the envy of other states are gone. Visitors can no longer come and be at rest amid the growing dirty environment.

Checks by Daily Sun between Friday, July and Sunday, September 11, 2022, showed that there were over 30 heaps of refuse scattered across the metropolis. Streets mostly affected are New Airport Road (nine refuse dumps) Ekpo Abasi (three refuse dumps), Chamley (three heaps of refuse), Mbukpa Market, Inyang, White House (three refuse dumps), Palm Street, Atu, Mayne Avenue (three heaps of refuse) and the Amika Utuk by Uwanse axis, all in Calabar South.

In Calabar municipality, refuse has also covered some streets. They included Amika Layout, by Preparatory International School, Asari Iso Street, Eta Agbor Street and Satellite Town, Marian Hill, Ediba axis, Asari Iso area, Winners Way behind Axari Hotels, Lemna Road and 8-Miles axis. The Lemna Road dumpsite has become a health challenge and residents are calling for intervention to save the community.

The markets are not left out, as they have become temporary dumpsites. The popular Watt, Marian, Mbukpa as well as Atakpa markets have been taken over by heaps of refuse. Traders are gradually adapting to the culture of displaying their wares and other consumables on top of refuse, not minding the stench oozing out from the filthy environment.

Worried by this ugly development, residents of Calabar metropolis have cried out for help over the heaps of refuse that have are gradually taking over the city. They expressed worry at the level of filth and dirty environment in the last couple of months, which could lead to an epidemic within the city if government does not find a lasting way of refuse disposal and evacuation management.

According to residents, the city, hitherto popular for its spic and span environment, particularly during the administrations of former governors Donald Duke and Sen. Liyel Imoke, whereby trees and flowers were planted everywhere, has waned considerably.

An environmental expert, Edem Nyong, noted that improper disposal of waste and management could lead to air, soil, and water pollution as it clogs drains, create stagnant water for insect breeding and transmission of diseases such as cholera, malaria, dengue fever, respiratory infections and asthma. He said these are major health challenges associated with filthy environment and improper waste management.

One of the residents of Amika Utuk Street, Blessing Inyang, 37, decried the undue delay in evacuation of refuse in recent times, saying the city of Calabar was never as dirty as it is under Ayade.

Blessing, a teacher in one of the private schools and whose house is quite close to one of the refuse bins at Amika Layout, said: “Calabar has been historically popular for her allure, peace, restfulness, greenery, cleanliness, hospitality and culinary skills. A lot of people from far and wide come to have rest after toiling and sweating elsewhere because of the clean and scerene environment. But I doubt if visitors still troop into our beloved city because it is dirty and polluted with stench.”

Raising the alarm over backlog of unevacuated refuse littering the metropolis, the State House of Assembly adopted a resolution on July 21, 2022, inviting the commissioner for environment, general manager of the Waste Management Agency, the secretary, Calabar Urban Development Agency (CUDA), chairmen of Calabar Municipality and Calabar South as well as contractors in charge of refuse disposal in the state capital to offer public explanation on why the city was dirty.

The resolution was taken following a matter of urgent public interest sponsored by Hon. Davies Etta (Abi), who lamented that Calabar was very dirty and dotted with refuse heaps. Etta emphasised that the environment had direct impact on the health of citizens, adding that the unhygienic state of Calabar was harmful and inimical to the health of the residents.

After debating on the matter, the lawmakers unanimously called for urgent steps to be taken to remedy the situation in order to prevent a possible outbreak of disease.

Taking a swipe at the poor handling of the environmental issues with regard to refuse evacuation,  the Obong of Calabar Executive Forum (OCEF) in a statement signed by the chairman, Chief Gershom Henshaw and the secretary, Dr. Maurice Ekpeyong, said the continued piling up of refuse on the streets constitute a health challenge to residents of the metropolis.

Describing the prolonged refuse evacuation crisis in Calabar as totally unacceptable, especially for a city known globally as one of the cleanest in the country and a preferred tourism destination, the Forum noted that the refuse heaps in some areas have blocked traffic flow as well as entrances of residents to their houses, thereby exposing the public to hardship and sickness.

They called on government agencies to as a matter of urgency embark on immediate evacuation of the refuse, which have continued to pose a health danger to the public and could to lead to an epidemic in Calabar. They added that it was high time other government agencies saddled with the responsibility of waste management in the state reversed this ugly trend, which has lingered for some time now.

They advised the public to cooperate with the government to keep the environment clean always, especially as the Christmas season is fast approaching with the expected influx of visitors into the state, adding that environmental sanitation should be prioritized at all times for the wellbeing of the people.

Decrying the current unhygienic situation in Calabar metropolis, the state chapter of PDP in a statement dated July 22, 2022 and signed by the state publicity secretary, Prince Mike Ojisi, condemned strongly an attempt by Ayade to turn the once nation’s paradise into a cesspool of decrepit and putrefaction.

In the statement titled, “Cross River State: A city of refuse under Ayade,” the party expressed worry that the beloved city has been utterly reduced to a city of refuse.

The party said: “Today in Cross River State, our roads, streets, neighborhoods, schools, hospitals, markets have  been overtaken by irrepressible pungent stench emanating from wastes, refuse and debris littered all over the state.

“More worrisome is the fact that some of the secretarial building housing important ministries and agencies within the state secretariat are not spared as we have refuse littered all over the place, even within the corridors of power.

“What else can be best defined as incompetence and cluelessness; if not the unspeakable act of environmental degradation Cross Riverians are currently facing in the hands of Ben Ayade. Today in Cross River State, most of our roads are closed by dumps and heaps of refuse that we now struggle to walk on refuse dumps to access our homes.

“As a party, we call on the state government to rise up to the demands of the moment and return our dear state the way Donald Duke and Liyel Imoke left it. We are worried of the imminent health hazard as a result of the environmental pollution today. As it stands, the state maybe sitting on a keg of gunpowder awaiting an imminent explosion of an epidemic.”

The party stated that they are  determined to secure the health of the citizens and shall stop at nothing in doing so, calling on residents to join as they “shall be rolling out operation clean up and reclaim Cross River.”

Meanwhile, Ayade has declared the last Saturday of every month as ‘Environmental Sanitation Day’. A statement signed by the secretary to the state government, Tina Banku Agbor, said the exercise is in line with the “desire of the governor to restore the clean and green status of the state and has approved a state wide monthly environmental sanitation exercise on the last Saturday of every month with effect from Saturday, October 29, from 6am to 10am.

“Within that period, there will be restriction of vehicular and pedestrian movement across the state except those on essential duties during the period of the exercise and solicited the kind support and cooperation of all and sundry to make the exercise a huge success.”