Posted by By TUNBOSUN OGUNDARE on
Except a drastic measure is taken to make Obanla area of Enilolobo, Oke-Aro community in Ifo Local Government Area of Ogun State habitable, it would soon become totally unhabitable.
Except a drastic measure is taken to make Obanla area of Enilolobo, Oke-Aro community in Ifo Local Government Area of Ogun State habitable, it would soon become totally unhabitable.
This is as a result of the heap of refuse dump with its attendant environmental hazards in the community, which has become a source of worries to residents.
The residents told Daily Sun that the filth is greatly affecting their health. Heavy smokes resulting from incinerated refuse usually pervade the whole area to the extent that some residents have been sent to their untimely graves.
However, the residents, mostly house owners in the neighbourhood, have tried various methods, including contacting the incumbent chairman of Ifo local government council, Alhaji Duro Salami, to find a lasting solution to the perennial problem. But all efforts to remove the dirt and stop further dumping of refuse at the spot have proved abortive.
Now, they want the governor of Ogun State, Otunba Gbenga Daniel to intervene in the matter before further damage is wrecked.
Narrating the harrowing experience chairman of Obanla/Oredegbe Landlords Association, Alhaji Ogungbo said, 'we don't enjoy living in this environment. The smoke impairs our normal breath and endangers our health. My 11-month old granddaughter died of cardio respiratory failure just last February. The common ailment in the community is respiratory failure related complication. Everybody in the neighbourhood has become a passive smoker except you don't breathe."
Alhaji Odogbo, 67, also told Daily Sun that flood is another problem they have to contend with during rainy season. And this, he said was a product of the refuse that has blocked the canal and prevented the free flow of water whenever it rains.
He told Daily Sun that part of his own house was swept away by erosion last year. Another landlord, Joseph Ajayi, wondered 'what profit a landlord who owns an edifice with commercial purpose like mine with no one interested to inhabit it?" Ajayi, a native of Ondo State noted that some flats and shops in his house are vacant with no one interested in renting them just because of the environmental pollution by the refuse dump. He recalled a case of one of his tenants who packed out unceremoniously when the wife took ill and the doctor asked whether she smokes cigarette.
The case of Debo Nursery and Primary school is another pathetic one. No fewer than two pupils of the school were diagnosed of asthma recently. The ailment was ascribed partially to polluted environment. The development has led to many parents withdrawing their children and wards.
Confirming this, the proprietor, Mrs. Juliana Audu 'parents who have not withdrawn their wards have done so out of love and the promise that the situation would soon improve."
Nonetheless, Daily Sun visited the refuse site and spoke with one of those said to be feeding fat on the refuse at the expense of the sufferers. The man who identified himself simply as Sawubana informed Daily Sun that he is there collecting money from the throng of people including P.S.P's who come to dispose their dirt there daily on behalf of his elder brother named Solomon whom he claimed owns the site.
He however, told Daily Sun that all his activities on the refuse site dump have the backing of Ifo local government council.
'My elder brother, Solomon owns this land. And he's the one collecting money from the people for dumping refuse here. The arrangement has been on since 1998. He only asked me to manage it for him last year because of his ill-health. I don't know why people are now complaining that they've been disturbed by the refuse. Even, the current chairman of Ifo local government council Alhaji Duro Salami permits us to operate on the dumpsite."
However, speaking on behalf of the Ifo local government chairman, supervisor for medical and health services, Lawrence Adesayo denied knowledge of the whole situation saying apart from the fact that no official reports have been made to the council, the land does not belong to the local government and so it's absurd for the council to put officials there to manage and collect money on its behalf.