Maiduguri residents decry lukewarm attitude to sanitation
Some residents of Maiduguri on Tuesday decried the lukewarm attitude of some people to monthly environmental sanitation in the city.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Borno Government recently re-introduced the monthly exercise as part of measures to improve sanitation in the state.
Some residents told NAN that many Maiduguri residents do not take exercise seriously as they use the period to relax or play leisure games.
“If you visit many wards in Maiduguri on sanitation days you will be shocked to see that most people are indoors.
“Those outside are either playing football or chatting while those that gather refuse in their environs dump it in drainage,” Mallam Abubakar Umar, a resident of Mairi ward said.
Umar urged the government to set up a monitoring team that would be inspecting the conduct of the exercise.
This, he said, would ensure that those who are reluctant to clean their environment would be compelled to do so.
Rakiya Abdulaziz and Zara Muhammad of Gwange ward blamed the problem on inadequate publicity and enforcement.
“Government needs to enforce compliance particularly on residents whose environment is dirty.
“People also need to be enlightened and there the is need to provide more designated refuse disposal points,” Abdulaziz said.
Tijjani Mustafa of Gomari ward said some household connect their sewage to drainage.
Mustafa called for the establishment of a task force and laws to deal with violators.
“In many places, some people even dump carcasses of animals in drainage instead of burying them.
“There was this sad incident of a liquid waste evacuation company driver caught at midnight discharging solid waste into a stream near Maiduguri Monday market.
