WE have no access to water, we can’t drink from our wells, we now buy ‘pure water,’ in our residences, we hold constant communion with houseflies. In fact, cholera has claimed many lives yet the successive governments have turned deaf ears to our barrage of complaints and pleas, despite our being citizens of the state and the country. We also want the good things of life!”

Call it the lamentation of the troubled, you will not be wrong. Call it a tale of a neglected people; you will be right on point. Anyway one chooses to describe the words above, spoken by Chief Ganiyu Bankole, the Baale of Awotan, an area far-removed from the centre of Ibadan city, but has come to be a place of residence for thousands of people in the fast-developing largest city in West Africa; it must be an odious tale.

From the deplorable condition of the road leading from Apete towards Lifeforte International School, Awotan, one might probably be tempted to think that what lies ahead would be nothing short of neglect, squalor and the worst part of a slum. However, the sight of residences, hotels and other lively activities lining the road towards Akufo would convince a first-comer that tucked within that hinterland are beautiful sights and a serene environment, which have remained threatened by the putrid smell of waste oozing out of the wide expanse of land that has been committed to refuse dumping.

According to the General Manager of the Oyo State Solid Waste Management Board, Engineer Gabriel Olukunle Okewale, the dumpsite was acquired in 2007 after the processes began in late 2006, and when the land was acquired, the land owners were said to have been informed that the land would be used as a dumpsite. He noted that the Board had fenced the site to control the waste being dumped, noting that when all these were happening there was no development around the dumpsite.

The dumpsite, which had come to be a notable feature of Akowo-Awotan, according to Pastor Lawrence Fehintola, has been there for many years and has continued to wreck untold havoc on the residents of the community around it, with a notoriety that reaches the sky during the raining season. Of the many havocs wrecked by the dumpsite, he noted that researchers in Public Health have declared water from the wells dug by residents undrinkable, even as the residents have become used to the ever-billowing cloud of smoke which the dumpsite-turned-chimney forever turns into the air.

“The August 26 flood washed refuse into our wells and houses. We cannot drink water from the well; we now buy ‘pure water.’ In fact, there was a neighbour that blocked his well and erected an overhead tank with which he buys water weekly. People have been falling sick and suffering in silence. You are fortunate to have been here during the dry season, if you come here during raining season, you would be welcomed by a swarm of houseflies. We now use chemical to combat houseflies so that we can live in peace in our houses,” Pastor Fehintola said, explaining the agony of the residents of Akowo, Alapata, Idi Ope and other areas adjoining the dumpsite.

Mrs Akeem Oorelope, who also spoke to Sunday Tribune, buttressed the fact that the area was becoming inhabitable with the threats posed to residents’ health by the rampant smoke, odour and houseflies.

Further speaking on the hazards of the dumpsite to residents of the area, Mr. Nnamdi James, a Postgraduate Student in Public Health revealed that residents of the area are susceptible to cholera, dysentery and other airborne and skin diseases based on the unhygienic water and environment they live, noting that the immediate solution was to sink deep boreholes in the area while the waste should also be treated after disposal to reduce the health hazards.

When asked what steps residents of the area had taken to take care of their unpalatable situation, Pastor Fehintola noted that landlords had been writing to governors of the state to do something about their plight. “We have written to the House of Assembly, Oyo State Waste Management Board and even the governors. We even held a peaceful demonstration and they promised there would be changes, but here we are with the same old story,” he maintained.

In his own reaction, the Baale noted that the dumpsite has brought the residents nothing but despair and suffering, as their wells have been condemned, while they are never at peace due to the ravaging wars waged by houseflies. “Cholera has claimed several lives here and whenever the lorries that move waste pass along Apete-Awotan road, refuse follow them in tow dropping on the road but they never seem to bother. While government is attempting to clean up the city, we are suffering untold hardship from the cleaning exercises as if neglect is our own lot in life. We also deserve the good things of life,” he said.

He continued: “We are pleading with the current government to come to our aid, they should warn the waste management board and everyone involved to put the health of residents around the area into consideration. I am also pleading with the governments at all levels to remember Awotan for good. They built hospital and it has since been left unused, we travel kilometres to have access to health facilities. The people of the area deserve better because we also perform our civic responsibilities,” the Baale stated.

Notwithstanding the hues and cries of residents, the Waste Management Board has stuck to its gun, reiterating the impropriety of the buildings around the dumpsite while also maintaining that some people had even begun to encroach on the dumpsite land to build houses. “We have held meetings with them to bear with us because what they are experiencing is not a direct consequence of our action or inaction. More so, the waste being dumped there are collected from al parts of the city and closing the place up will lead to an environmental problem in the city. We have also told them to make a formal request to the Oyo State government and the Iddo Local Government to sink boreholes for them in order to take care of one of the problems,” Engineer Okewale maintained.

The General Manager further stated that plans were underway to improve the dumpsite. He also rejected the claim that the Board sets refuse on fire causing the non-stop smoke, which this writer also saw, at the dumpsite. “We don’t set refuse on fire. Perhaps hot ashes were carried to the site, leading to the burning. So, the smoke is not our making and if the people had respected the 200 metres radius boundary, if they had not built close to the site, the buffer zone would have mitigated the effects of the waste,” he stated.

As the people of Awotan continued to carry their cross, enduring the raging wars of smoke, odour and impending epidemic; it has become imperative  for the Oyo State and Iddo Local Governments, and especially the waste management board, to take urgent steps in putting an end to the plight of the residents of the area; for a government that truly seeks development must look at the decongestion of urban centres, as Awotan provides a vast opportunity in lands for the new Ibadan that must evolve if government efforts are to begin to yield positive results.