Epidemic looms as garbage dumps ‘take’ over Niger

By Adeleye Kunle

Roadsides, streets and markets in major towns across Niger State have been turned into garbage sites which the officials of the state government have failed to clear. JUSTINA ASISHANA reports that the garbage which is usually dumped on the streets for the Niger State Environmental Protection Agency (NSEPA) has not been evacuated for months

In yesteryear, muckiness that engenders pollution and other health challenges were not one of the features that defined Niger State. It ranked among some of the cleanest states in Nigeria.

Any wonder people, including those who are not indigenous to the state and Minna, its capital city, flock in to savour the aesthetic milieu of the Power State.

That was then. The Power State (so called because it plays host to two of Nigeria’s major hydroelectric power stations, the Kainji Dam and the Shiroro Dam) is now a shadow of itself. No thanks to mountainous garbage heaps that are major features that foul the environment.

There were contractors paid by the state government to evacuate solid wastes from the surrounding area. It seems the state government has failed to fulfil its obligation to the contractors. This may have caused them to withdraw their services to the state; leading to heaps of garbage taking over major parts of the streets and roads.

The inability of the state government to pay contractors handling the collection of wastes and providing waste management trucks has led to the increase of indiscriminate dumping of refuse across the major towns in Niger State.

Roadsides, streets and markets in major towns across the state have been turned into garbage sites which the officials of the state government have failed to clear the garbage.

Moving around some towns in the state, one discovered that the garbage which is usually dumped on the streets for the Niger State Environmental Protection Agency (NSEPA) is not evacuated for days; leading to more garbage dumped in different areas apart from the designated place. Due to the inefficient system to evacuate these wastes, the residents are left with no choice but to dump the wastes on any available space they find, including the streets, roadsides and drainage.

The markets are not free from this development as wastes can be seen dumped in the various markets; people have raised concerns about the health impacts on the residents.

Within the Minna metropolis, the Tunga and Kpakungun areas as well as the markets can be aptly described as garbage dumps as passersby can see garbage on the road. One of the main dump sites in Kpakungu is in front of the Primary Health care centre in the community and a Jumat Mosque and the residents say that no efforts have been made to clean up the refuse.

The waste dumps have become malodourous and nauseating as passersby frequently cover their nostrils when they pass by the dumps, even when one is in a vehicle, one inhales the stench oozing out from the waste dumps.

Some residents of the town expressed fear over these wastes, saying that the indiscriminate dumping of wastes, especially during the rainy season, can result in water pollution, drainage blocking, flooding, land pollution and infrastructural degradation.

A resident of Suleja, Ismaila Muhammad Yaro lamented that the dumping of refuse on roads should not be so and even if it is dumped, appropriate authorities should be made to evacuate the waste as soon as they are dropped. He stressed that this can affect the health of the people.

Chidoke Charles, who also lives in Suleja said the refuse has been left unattended to for months.

“Those who are supposed to evacuate the refuse haven’t been doing anything. We are suffering from this. The foul odour alone is not good. They say that there is COVID-19, monkeypox and others and this refuse has been here for more than a month without any attempt to evacuate them. The government is not paying the people that evacuate them.

“We are suffering from the foul odour and the flies that come from it. They left it because they are not living here or doing business here.

“We beg the government to ensure that the garbage heaps are evacuated for the health of the people.”

Kure market of garbage

The Kure modern market is an eyesore to traders and customers as it can aptly be described as a refuse dump. There are garbage heaps everywhere, especially on the road leading to the market.

Due to the inability of the local government councils to clear the refuse, the traders have begun to use the dirt to fill up the puddle caused by rains.

The place designated as car parks has been overtaken by refuse dumps; causing customers to struggle for the little space available to park their vehicles.

One of the traders in the market, Mohammed Dangana whose shop is facing the refuse lamented that they have complained to the authorities but nothing has been done.

“We are just looking. I have a POS stand close to the dustbin. We have complained enough but nothing is being done. We are tired of complaining. Now, we are just looking,” he said.

Customers said they would no longer pay the gate fees to enter the market until the government decides to do something about the refuse dumps which have become an eyesore.

One of the customers, Juliana Jacob said: “Imagine a market like a dump site. In fact, the market has become a dump site. This is supposed to be one of the parking spaces. One wonders what all the revenue being collected as toll fees from vehicles is being used for.

“If you want to come inside the market, you either pay N100 or N50 depending on where you want to pack, this is beside the money collected from the traders, especially those who hawk their wares. “Hundreds of cars visit the market daily and yet, the local government authority cannot use part of the funds to take care of this part of the market. Imagine the threat to the lives of the people that this pose. Flies can perch on meat, fish and other foods that are not covered.”

Abdullahi Usman said: “I have since stopped paying those fees to enter the market. I rather park my car outside in a safe place with a friend or my brother than give that useless committee any kobo for doing nothing. Everything about Niger State is from the opposite direction. I just pray we get the good leadership in place in 2023.”

Another customer Muhammad Badamasi said: “I keep wondering the kind of government we have in Niger State that does not consider the health implication of the situation to the people. All they know is to collect money from one revenue agent to the other. To pass a gate in Kure Market, you have to pay while the main road leading to the market is in a sorry situation. We call on the state and local governments to do the needful regarding that road.”

Bakare Kabir said: “Chanchaga Local Government is just busy allocating land with no attention given to refuse management in the market. Imagine filling potholes with waste from the market. Go to the other side, where ram sellers are, the story is the same.”

NSEPA’s inadequacies

In a television interview monitored by our reporter after efforts made to speak with him proved futile, the General Manager of the Niger State Environmental Protection Agency, Habib Abdulkadir said the government has financial challenges as a result of a lack of funds. He lamented that the people have refused to pay for waste collection and there is no money to enable the government to continue funding waste management.

“The government has been doing this for ages and it has gotten to a point that the government has arrived at a point of lack of finances in the area of funding of waste management in the state. The government tries its best but the population keeps increasing and the cities are also increasing. There is a need for us to improve on the equipment that we need to deploy to cover these areas that are coming up. It has come to a point that there is no other alternative than for the people to pay for their waste bills.”

The officer in charge of waste management in NSEPA, Mohammed Isa Kutigi said wastes are generated at all times and that majority of the areas where the wastes are outside are not easily accessible by their trucks. He also pointed out that there are many vehicles for the collection of waste.

He noted that the agency has not been able to pay the contractors for about three months which led to the withdrawal of their services.

“The contractors cannot work because they are not paid. We have 11 trucks in Suleja, we have six trucks in Kontagora, and three in Bida, while we have only five trucks in Minna which can’t take care of only the Tunga side alone. We have a lot of challenges. The government needs to intervene by providing more trucks so that we can address this,” he said.

NSEPA drags Chachanga council to court

Kutugi said NSEPA is not in charge of the markets and motor parks but the local government councils, adding that the Agency is getting set to take the Chachanga Local Government Area to court over negligence of the market.

“Based on the constitution, the parks and market are the responsibility of the state government. It is the local government that manages the waste generated from the park and markets unless they call for our intervention or assistance.

“For the Kure modern market, we intervened for them for over seven months but they did not pay us. We have served them a court notice for allowing the market to degenerate to that level. They had asked us to come to their aid, the agency provided the truck, and then we asked them to get the wheel loader and fuel it; we did our part but the local government could only fuel the machine for two days and the work couldn’t continue, that was how we left it for them because we have activities to do. It is not our responsibility,” he said.

He lamented that the people have defaulted in the payment of waste collection because they have been enjoying a free collection of waste from 1996 to date; hence, they are finding it difficult to pay.

“We still need the government to intervene and support us in turning it into a private venture which will enable us to get the people to pay for the collection of their refuse. We cannot do this without government intervention and backing,” he said.

He said that the solution to this is political will on the part of the government and the provision of additional trucks for refuse collection across the state.

“We need about 30 trucks in each local government area to enable the effective collection of waste in the state,” he said.

Ministry fails to evacuate wastes

In June, the Niger State Commissioner for Environment and Forestry, Dr Daniel Habila Galadima stated that the ministry had embarked on refuse collection and disposal within major cities across the state, including Minna, the state capital. This is because of the directive of the state government to clear all the dump sites in the state but as of today, the state of refuse dumping remains the same.

The commissioner, however, acknowledged that the ministry had some challenges in evacuating refuse in the state capital as a result of an increment in the price of diesel which had affected the ministry’s budget, even as he stated that the state government had provided the resources for the ministry to mobilise additional trucks to ensure the directive is quickly and efficiently carried out.

He said then that the refuse clearing has commenced with the assurance that in the next few days, the state will be cleared of indiscriminate refuse dump sites but the dump sites have since increased after the Commissioner’s statement.

QUOTE

Roadsides, streets and markets in major towns across the state have been turned into garbage sites which the officials of the state government have failed to clear the garbage…The garbage which is usually dumped on the streets for the Niger State Environmental Protection Agency (NSEPA) is not evacuated for days