Nigeria is currently dealing with a more lax attitude towards environmental cleanliness when compared to how it was highly regulated and tightly enforced in the previous few decades. In the past, the monthly environmental cleaning exercise was a vital aspect of life in Nigeria. There were specific days set aside for individuals to clean their surroundings, and participation was encouraged by restricting the passage of cars and pedestrians. However, the formerly successful system’s enforcement has progressively weakened, creating a number of environmental and Public Health issues.
Although the practice is still in place on paper, few people enforce it, and many Nigerians no longer think it’s important. The monthly cleanup is still observed in some states, but it has become little more than a formality in many others. Waste Management problems have gotten out of hand as a result of uneven enforcement, which has decreased awareness of and involvement in the Sanitation exercise. With frequent flooding and clogged drainage systems exacerbating public health concerns, now is an ideal time to reinstate the environmental sanitation exercise.
Environmental sanitation became less common over time.
The monthly sanitation exercise day was first implemented in the 1980s and was followed through on by businesses, government employees, and people in the 1990s and early 2000s. Participants cleaned their homes, public areas, and business areas. Every month on the last Saturday, the streets would be noticeably vacant between 7 to 10 a.m., with the exception of those cleaning, gathering rubbish, or emptying gutters. This system was obviously beneficial. Locals took pride in their surroundings, and the cleanliness campaigns helped to lower the number of illness outbreaks associated with inadequate hygiene, including diarrhea, cholera, and malaria.
At the time, the streets, marketplaces, and drainage systems were cleaner, and the conspicuous accumulation of garbage was infrequent. There was also an increase in public understanding of trash management, and many people actively participated in appropriate waste disposal techniques. However, environmental sanitation became less common over time. It became increasingly challenging for the law enforcement to impose a mobility prohibition across the city or even the country as Nigerian cities became more urbanized. Furthermore, the Infrastructure for waste disposal was overwhelmed by the increase of informal settlements and the quickening pace of population growth, making it unable to meet the demands of these expanding cities.
Restoring the exercise necessitates an organized strategy.
Likewise, the diminution of the restriction on movement during sanitation hours was also significantly influenced by legal challenges. The program’s implementation was further undermined in 2016 when a court verdict declared that the movement restrictions imposed during sanitation exercises were unconstitutional. The implications were evident as the monthly sanitation practice lost its prominence. In many urban places today, littering and inappropriate trash disposal techniques are typical. Many Nigerian cities have frequent flooding as a result of blocked drainage systems caused by a lack of regular cleanup operations, especially during the rainy season.
Poor environmental sanitation has also been linked, in part, to the growth in preventable diseases, as stagnant water and waste provide breeding grounds for mosquitoes and other disease variants. In order to solve Nigeria’s present environmental and public health issues, it would be beneficial to reinstate the monthly environmental sanitation practice nationwide. However, a mere restoration to the previous setup might not be sufficient. It is necessary to adopt a more modern, organized strategy that recognizes the complexity of contemporary urban living.
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To increase the efficacy of environmental exercise, it would be beneficial to motivate communities in the vicinity to assume greater responsibility for their surroundings. States should enforce the same laws, and local governments should be in charge of making sure that everyone complies. The monthly environmental sanitation program has to be reinstated with an updated approach that takes into account current issues. This is because a cleaner Nigeria is essential for maintaining public health, lowering the rate of disease outbreaks, and establishing a sustainable environment for coming generations.