Kwara Govt Warns Against Indiscriminate Refuse Dumping 

By Emmanuel Kehinde, Ilorin

Kwara State Government again has cautioned the people of the state,  especially the Tanke community in Ilorin South LGA to desist, from indiscriminate disposal of their refuse.

The government commended the effort of the Blue-lily Humanitarian and Empowerment Initiative for its complementary service.

The Secretary and acting General Manager, of Kwara State Environmental Protection Agency, (KWEPA), Hajia Folohunso Idayat, stated this at the weekend during a clean-up exercise by the Blue-lily Humanitarian and Empowerment Initiative.

Blue-lily Humanitarian and Empowerment Initiative is a Lagos-based Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) that embarked on the evacuation of waste at a river bank beside Chapel Secondary School Junction Tanke Ilorin  – a community service that now saved the area from an eyesore.

She commended the founder of the Blue-lily H&E initiative Yeside Olasimbo Aminat for being patriotic and for complementing the government’s efforts at ensuring a clean and safe environment for the citizens.

Folohunso, who reaffirmed the government’s commitment to a decent waste management system, said the agency will not rest on its oars to keep the state tidy and safe through regular campaigns against abuse of the physical environment, and enforcement exercise.

The exercise featured members of the NGO and some officials of the state Ministry of Environment and KWEPA, with the agency also making available the necessary tools as support.

Founder of the Blue-lily H&E Initiative, Yeside Olasimbo Aminat, said the organization was established in January 2023 in response to humanitarian concerns, and to help people clean up their environment.

“We are trying to sensitize the locals about proper waste management culture and to foster community bonding through collaborative cleaning efforts. And our focus is on climate change and climate attributes which could result in flooding and land degradation among other natural or non-natural causes that can affect the livelihood of the people,” she said.

Yeside said it was devastating and worrisome to see people dumping refuse in illegal places like major roads in Tanke, and advocated the need for collaboration of all stakeholders to ensure that a healthy and clean environment is achieved across nooks and crannies of the city.

She thanked the government for its support by providing manpower and some tools that made the event a huge success.

Also speaking, co-founder of the organization, Diolu Tobechwuku, said, the clean-up exercise was necessitated to preach hygienic culture and reduce gases that cause climate change, calling on people to desist from violating the environmental standards.

“The clean up is a way to show the community proper waste disposal, but the main sensitization is what we have been doing by going to shops and houses and teaching them about proper waste management because we have a bad culture of waste management in Nigeria.

“As we pack this refuse, we are trying to reduce gases that cause climate change. We advocate for a clean environment and proper waste management culture,” he said.

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