Osun, Kogi and Nasarawa judged to be the three dirtiest states in Nigeria as FCT, Akwa Ibom and Cross River are adjudged clean

NIGERIA'S Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and the two far southern eastern states of Cross River and Akwa Ibom have been adjudged to be the cleanest three regions of the country according to the finding of a recent survey published by Clean-Up Nigeria.

In the report just produced by Clean-Up Nigeria, an organisation championing the protection of the environment, Kogi, Osun and Nasarawa were judged to be the three dirtiest states in the country. According to the report, while Nasarawa scored 12.2%, Osun and Kogi states scored 11% each, compared with the high scores at the other end of the scale that saw Akwa Ibom score Akwa Ibom 78.2%, Cross River get 64% and the FCT obtain 58%.

According to the 768-page study titled Clean-Up Nigeria National Technical Working Committee (NTWC) report, presently, there has been a prevalence of between 20 and 35 sanitation-related diseases in the country, while over 700 sanitary workers die annually. Among other things, the report looked at the state of the nation’s cleanliness, the performance ratings for states and capital cities over a period between from October 2017 and October 2018.

Prince Ene Baba Owoh, the national coordinator of Clean Up Nigeria (CUN) and general secretary of NTWC, also stated that 175m Nigerians are living in unclean environments. According to him, the sanitation/hygiene practices of the people in over 33 states and the FCT calls for serious management on the part of the government, individuals and groups.

He said: “We have it as our mandate to mount constructive campaigns through individuals and groups practical actions to better and sustain the quality of the environment and set agenda for a cleaner heritage. The release of this study in the state of the nation’s performance rating index for all states of the federation/capital cities, including the six geo-polity al zones of the country is part of CUN’s silver jubilee celebration.

“As confirmed by our study, only three states and state capitals that scored above 50% can be considered to be clean. The performance indicators and results have shown that over 175m Nigerians are living in unclean environments.

“To be very frank with you, sanitation workers are exposed to all hazards through inhalation. Have you been to the dump sites before? You will be amazed as these same gaseous components are part and parcel of the things that the sanitation workers inhale.

“If we talk about the nationwide setting, we are looking at over 700 sanitation workers dying on a yearly basis. In this part of the world when people die, it is believed that witches killed them or they died of poverty.”

Mr Owoh therefore, called on the government at all levels to hands-off the direct management of wastes and engage the services of reputable experts in the country to further ensure better service delivery and job creation.