Our dirty, all-pervading national culture

‘Wa iyazu billahi’ I said looking away from the car window to stare straight ahead of me. ‘Just don’t look this way Maryam, it’s simply horrible to look at.’

‘What is it Bint? What kind of immorality are you asking me to keep my eyes away from?’ She asked, taking her eyes from the steering wheel to look at me.

‘Immorality? What makes you think I’m shielding you from viewing something immoral?’ I asked.

‘Well you did say, “wa iyazu billah,” seeking Almighty Allah’s protection against evil. So I assumed you must have seen something bad enough to elicit such a prayer.’ She explained.

‘I see, well what I saw wasn’t an act of immorality, but it’s equally revolting. It’s an absolute eyesore that was right by the road side, near where our car passed moments ago.’ I answered.

‘Really, what kind of an eyesore was it?’ She asked again.

‘That rubbish heap that’s right by the front of that gate.’ I replied pointing in the direction without looking at it.

‘Haba Bint, you mean you are overreacting due to this small rubbish heap? What will you do when you see bigger ones? I mean this is nothing compared to the ones we see spread all over the town.’ She observed.

‘But that is the problem Maryam. Why should there be rubbish heaps and refuse dumps all over the town? You call this a small thing but it is a big eyesore as far I’m concerned because I don’t see anything as bad as this where I live. But whenever we come to visit our home town these ugly sights take away all the joy from our family reunion. Why should it be so?’ I queried.

‘Oh I see, so the problem is you are bringing your FCT standards here. You want to see this town as clean and sparkling as the Federal Capital, where both you and I live. And since you can’t find it that way you’ve decided to terrorise our lives with criticism.’ Maryam hit back.

‘But do you honestly think there is nothing wrong with tolerating this dirt? Do you really believe that my wishing that this town can be as clean as the FCT is being uppity? To be honest, even the Federal Capital isn’t as clean as a country’s capital should be. I mean you have travelled abroad many times and seen the way they keep their towns and cities clean. Compared to them even the FCT isn’t clean enough, but it’s still better that our other towns and cities.

What baffles me is how our leaders, both traditional and modern, travel widely around the globe and yet have no wish to make sure we rise up to world standards by making environmental sanitation a priority.’ I lamented.

‘Well that’s not entirely true. Every governor we’ve ever had came and tried his hand at cleaning up our city but living in dirt has become an entrenched culture among our people that after a few months the governor will just give up on it and concentrate on other things.’ She countered.

‘But that’s a real pity Maryam. I mean why is it possible for people elsewhere to keep their homes and surroundings clean? Is it not because they put enough time and energy into it? How can a state executive go round and supervise a clean up exercise once or twice and say he is tired because the people haven’t stopped throwing dirt? It takes more than that photo opportunity to keep our cities clean. It takes commitment, social reorientation and financial investment to achieve an enviable environmental sanitation; but it eventually pays off because not only will we achieve beautiful surroundings that are a pleasing sight to behold but we will also successfully keep away deadly diseases like Malaria and cholera, which are directly linked to dirty environments.

You know, I thought I saw a ray of hope when one gubernatorial candidate visited our office once and said he planned to be paying people for disposing of their dirt the right way, so as to encourage them. He narrated that when on a trip to Thailand he saw residents going to their environmental sanitation offices to dispose of their domestic dirt and were getting paid for it. He pledged to do the same thing here. But you know what, from the time he was sworn into office, to the time he left, he did no such thing. In fact the state he governed remained as dirty as it had always been, despite his presence. So you see, without the  political will on the part of our leaders, our ordinary people will continue to live in dirt and worse still begin to see that as normal, not an aberration. What a pity!’ I concluded.

‘Wow, you are passionate about this Bint. So what do you see as the way out? I mean I’ve not reached the stage where I see refuse dumps and other unsightly filth as normal but I still feel that sometimes the situation just can’t be  helped. Too many people, too many activities, very little presence of authorities and the dirt keeps piling up.’ She opined.

‘Well I just finished telling you what a politician said they were doing in Thailand. I also recently received a WhatsApp video showing how in another Asian country, they didn’t say which but some of the women were in Hijab, so it could be Malaysia or Indonesia, they were awarding tickets for shopping and cinemas to people who disposed of their dirt correctly; particularly those who dropped recyclable items. So we have to learn to give incentives to people who are making the effort to keep their surroundings clean. But more importantly there should be serious social reorientation campaign against dirt. People have to be made to accept that environmental sanitation is their responsibility and they have to observe it at all times. The campaigns should include threats of penalties for throwing dirt all over the place or allowing refuse dumps to spring in front of their houses. Do you know that today, right between two lovely houses you’ll see a refuse heap arise without either of the two owners caring about it? These are the kind of people to penalise for promoting dirty surroundings.

There should be radio jingles and short videos on TV and social media, advocating clean up exercises and urging ordinary people to consider it their obligation to observe environmental sanitation. These will get them to accept the challenge and be willing to do it even without supervision from authorities. The countries which have gone far in cleanliness made sure that their citizens accept dirt as a thing of shame and something to fight against.’ I declared.

‘That’s true Bint, I hope our governments will get to hear suggestions like this and embark on such media campaigns, in addition to making serious investment in sanitation excersise. With any luck, one day you will come visiting home and find no reason to complain.’ Maryam joked, bringing the car to a halt in front of her in-laws house.

‘It’s actually a national disaster. Almost every town and city in this country suffers from environmental sanitation issues. We can only hope for the day they will all embrace the clean up culture and end them.’ I answered, opening the passenger door to come out.