Towards a Sustainable Clean and Green Anambra State

 By Paul Nwosu

All roads lead to Ochanja Market, Onitsha on Friday, March 31st as Anambra State Governor, Prof Charles Chukwuma Soludo, CFR, undertakes the landmark flag-off of the clean, green and sustainable programme in Anambra State.

The drive toward a sustainable clean and green Anambra State is in line with the well-articulated people’s manifesto of Mr. Governor aimed at turning the homeland into a liveable, pleasurable and prosperous destination of choice.

Governor Soludo who as ever leads by example will set the tone of clearing, evacuating and desilting the Anambra environment.

After the Friday, March 31st flag-off by Governor Soludo in Ochanja Market, Onitsha, the launching of the sustainable clean and green Anambra State programme will be extended to the 21 local governments and 181 communities on Saturday, April 1st with the Deputy Governor, Dr. Onyekachukwu Ibezim driving the charge.

All the nooks and crannies of Anambra State will bear comprehensive witness of the sustainable clean and green revolution.

With the effective launch of the clean, green and sustainable environment programme, it shall no longer be business as usual in Anambra State. The old way of just observing a sanitation day and letting refuse revert back to the streets and gutters will become a thing of the past.  

The open dumping of refuse will now be anathema in Anambra State. The earlier impunity of keeping the environment dirty will fizzle out for good.

Now that proper waste management is on the front burner in the sustainable clean and green operation, it is incumbent on all Ndi-Anambra to hold fast to the great dictum that states: “Cleanliness is next to godliness.”

There is in effect zero tolerance for flagrant dumping of refuse in Anambra State. The clearing and evacuation of clogged gutters will be undertaken with gusto to alleviate the concomitant danger of the offensive odour oozing from the gutters that may lead to the outbreak of diseases.

The erstwhile eyesore of heaping mountains of refuse in the major streets of cities like Awka, Onitsha, Nnewi and Ekwulobia has of course been done away with for good.

The significant improvement in refuse evacuation in the state makes it crucial for Ndi-Anambra across board to pay the requisite fees promptly.

Desilting is imperative to clear the sand and mud clogging the highways and gutters through the flooding waters of the rainy season.

The sustainable clean and green initiative by Governor Soludo will entail the planting of trees to maintain an unpolluted environment. The planted trees will go a long way in staving off erosion that is a clear and present danger to Anambra State.

Incidentally, Anambra State has the smallest land mass amongst the states of Nigeria, with the exception of Lagos State. But then, while Lagos State is gaining more land through the reclamation of the ocean, Anambra State is losing its land to erosion. It is through the greening of the environment through massive tree planting that Anambra State can win the battle with erosion that is depleting all the land.

Sustaining the clean and green ecosystem will kill off pollution that is a great danger in the cities of Anambra State such as Onitsha, Nnewi, Awka, Ekwulobia etc.

The Anambra clean and green initiative will in due cause gain sustainability through planting trees by increasing the green areas, proper disposal of waste of every kind, checking the emission of vehicular gases, and removing plastics from wanton circulation etc.

By conserving natural vegetation, trees, natural resources, and water, Anambra State will, as Governor Soludo had promised, become a liveable, pleasurable and prosperous homeland.  

Sir Paul Nwosu is the  Commissioner for Information, Anambra State