Ogun is a lot cleaner now than it was two years ago — Special Adviser to Ogun Gov. on Environment, Mr Ola Oresanya

In this interview by BANKOLE TAIWO, the Special Adviser to Ogun State Governor on environment and the Chief Executive Officer of Ogun State Waste Management Agency (OGWAMA) Mr Ola Oresanya speaks on efforts being made to make the state sparkling clean among other topical issues revolving around ensuring healthy and safe environment across the length and breadth of the state. Excerpts:

As we examine the midterm administration of Prince Dapo Abiodun, what is the update on the activities of Ogun State Waste Management Agency (OGWAMA), how far have you gone with meeting up with the set targets?

Yes, you are indeed right, it’s the midterm of this purposeful government of Prince Dapo Abiodun and so our assessment should be benchmarked against 50%, because it’s a review of under two years.

Having said that, one of our key targets is to make our towns and cities sparkling clean, I mean a lot cleaner than what we met two years ago, and it’s obvious now that this administration is walking the talk. Our cities and towns are a lot cleaner than what it used to be, in that case, we can say that we are very close to our target.

Part of our target is to also make this sector private sector-driven in the delivery of services and this we have done. We have created enabling environment that has attracted many private sector players into the business of waste disposal, several of them are from the state and other places. Some of these investors are even going into the downstream sector, that is waste recycling. So, in this area too, we can say that we have made appreciable progress, we have really encouraged investment in this sector.

Another cheering news is the job creation that we have made possible either directly such as the employment of people into the new agency, OGWAMA, as well as indirectly through our private sector partners. Another area we have also recorded progress is in achieving financial stability for the agency, our plan is to increase the revenue base of the agency and this to some extent has improved considerably, considering where we were two years ago.

Another thing is capacity building of our staff. As government staff of a regulatory agency, they have received proper training on how to be more efficient and add value to what we are doing here at OGWAMA. We also now have efficient customer care lines for proper engagement with members of the public. By and large, we have been on our toes to deliver on our mandate. It’s still a lot of work in progress, and we remain committed to giving the people of the state the very best.

How cooperative are the people of the state with the coming on board of use of PSP in waste disposal?

The good people of the state have shown great cooperation and I must thank them for this, in fact, it is now left for us to match and surpass their expectations. The people’s only apprehension lies in whether we will be able to continue with the good job because they will say, yes, a particular government has tried it in the past but later abandoned it, so the people have been pleading with us to be consistent and let the good work not stop.

Recently, there were reports of gas explosions majorly within the state capital, Abeokuta, can you please give us updates on what the government is doing to forestall such tragic incidents?

Yes, we had the unfortunate incidents recently, but they have stopped and that is to tell you that the government is doing something about it. What we did was to get the source of the contaminated gas, mainly the oxygen gas from the vendor of the contaminated gas and we got to know that the contamination happened when the gas was being transferred from main cylinder to the retailing cylinder. We were able to zero in on a particular place and we confiscated all the cylinders. Initially, we shut down all systems but through investigation, the contamination was narrowed down to one particular oxygen gas vendor. The police are already using their discretion to institute case of criminal negligence and culpable homicide against the identified vendor because people died in these unfortunate accidents. As a government we have been doing what we are suppose to do to ensure that this ugly trend is arrested and we thank God that that has been done.

Is there any quality control of these vendors by the government?

Well, the agency that is in charge of such job is Ogun State Environmental Protection Agency (OGEPA) which is under the Ministry of Environment which I still oversee for now. We have since strengthened OGEPA for this kind of quality assurance at manufacturer level and auto and safety standard at user level. We have charged those saddled with these responsibilities to live up to expectations to make sure that we are not careless and allow people do as they want particularly in oil and gas sector. Yes, we are shaping up, we are collaborating with other federal agencies to ensure that the right thing is done and the people are not just allowed to be at the mercy of some undesirable elements in the society.

It’s June already and the rains are here, what efforts are in place to ensure that the state is flood free this year?

Yes, if you are very observant, you will see that the the state government has embarked on several dredgings across the state. We have identified two main sources of flooding in the state for town and cities such as Abeokuta, Sagamu, Ilaro, Ijebu Ode, we have the urban flooding which resulted from blockage of many drainage channels with silt, this is caused by lack of proper maintenance and the clearing of these water paths for years.

We have worked on many of these primary trunks and we are still working on some to ensure that there is free flow of water. Some of these things are at the back end, people may not see what we are doing now but will feel the impact when the rain begins fully.

The other secondary source of flooding has to do with road construction and we have been working with the Ministry of Works to ensure that the road being constructed are within the drainage network, they must maintain the normal height of flow of water, they must maintain the hydrostatic balance. The drainage levels must not be higher than that of the ones we have in the inner cities, it must rhyme such that the main canals are lower. We are also encouraging residents to take care of the tertiary drainages, those are the gutters in front of our individual houses.

Before now there use to be distortion in the flow of water but that has been worked upon with all the steps taken so far. The other challenge has to do with people building on the waterways, we have been working with the physical planning to remove such properties and wherever we still have such constituting public nuisance, we will get there and remove them.

Another problem has to do with people dumping their refuse into waterways but we have arrested that with the coming on board of the PSPs who move about to collect the people’s waste for prompt disposal. We have also ensured that waste are not left by the roadside so that they are not washed into the canals.

One other thing that causes flooding is high precipitation of rain which results to tidal lock, this is a natural occurrence. That happens mainly at the southern part of the state where we have the outlet into the Lagoon, this kind of flooding is beyond our control but we will always give notice of evacuation to the people living in these areas when the time comes. We may have flash flooding in some of these areas but when the time comes we shall be giving periodic information to the people particularly about relocating to safer places.

What will you consider as the challenge in the business of making Ogun sparkling clean?

Well, we have an adage that says the way you structure your service will also determine how people function, so, honestly we are looking into the way we structure ourselves because we know that to some extent will influence how the people will align with our dreams and vision. In the light of this we have focused on increasing our capacity so that we will not only meet the expectations of the people but surpass it. Really, it’s not about the people but how as an agency can we can double up efforts to ensure that we match up with their expectations.

You also made moves recently to revoke titles of land acquired from the government but has now been abandoned and use as illegal dumpsites…

Yes, because such lands have been abandoned, they are not being used for the purpose for which they were acquired, they are now becoming security risks, constituting public nuisance and health hazard to the public, so the governor has to exercise his power and revoke title held on those lands. We all know what is happening right now in the light of the challenges of insecurity, so rather than allowing such land be used for any form of illegalities, it is better the government get its land back and transfer it to those that will make good use of it.

What is your charge to the people of the state?

I just want our people to keep on supporting us, they should pay for the services rendered to them. They should support all our efforts to care for our environment because it is for the good of all of us. They should pay up for their waste bills. They should also not hesitate to call us on our Customer Care lines for further engagement. We are here to serve and that we shall keep doing very conscientiously. I must also reiterate that we are covering every part of the state, and those areas we are yet to reach should be patient with us.