….as State Gets NGO’s Support On Clean Market, Healthy Initiative
The Lagos State Government on Monday urged marketmen/women and all residents to keep their environment clean and imbibe good environmental sanitation and hygiene practices.
The Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Mr. Tokunbo Wahab made this known while receiving the founder/CEO of Kokun Foundation Mr. Olukokun Adepeju who led some widows and volunteers on a road show and sensitisation visit to his office Quadrangle, Alausa, Secretariat saying it is compulsory for everyone to be on the same page with the government for a sustainable environment.
“The Clean Market Initiative, I am glad Kokun himself led this march. We, as a government, can’t just do enough without the residents’ support. So I implore you all to keep doing this (Clean Market sensitisation) until we get all our people to be on the same page with the government on environmental hygiene. Cleanliness is next to godliness. That’s what all our religious books tell us, ” he said.
He averred the present administration is determined to continually promote a clean and healthy environment and encourage community participation in maintaining a clean environment and waste management in order to reduce the risk of disease outbreaks in the state.
According to him, the cleanliness we are talking about starts from each and every one of us. From you and me, from our children, everybody. How do we treat our environment? How do we treat our markets? How do we treat our waste? We must always take cognizance of the aforementioned at all times for our safety.
He said residents must imbibe good environmental sanitation as a way of life as such residents must clean their homes, surroundings and clean their tertiary drainages while waste management officials are always available to collect their wastes and disposed it properly.
He reiterated that residents should desist from dumping their wastes on the roads, road median/setback, open spaces, canals and avoid open urination/defecation, saying that the government would continue to enforce and prosecute defaulters according to the environmental laws of the state.
He also urged traders to stop selling their wares on the road; rather, they should move into the markets in order to continually promote a clean, healthy, safe, flood free, and sustainable environment.
“On behalf of the Lagos State Government, we appreciate this laudable initiative. Words alone are not enough to express how we feel about this clean-up market sensitisation initiative carried out by Kokun Foundation, so on behalf of everyone here, I want to say thank you very much and don’t let it stop, keep sending the message across to everyone you know. Keep telling them about maintaining a good environmental sanitation lifestyle,” he said
In response, the founder/CEO of Kokun Foundation Mr. Olukokun Adepeju expressed appreciation to the government for ensuring a sustainable environment, saying continuous effort to clean up and sanitise the state by the government is for the best interest of all residents.
He said the group has gone to various markets to sensitise them on maintaining a clean environment always and pledged that the Foundation would continue to sensitise market women and men to continue to inculcate the culture of engaging in environmental sanitation always, as well as endeavour to dispose waste responsibly.
He added that the Foundation would continue to educate the residents that if they dispose wastes illegally, they would be prosecuted accordingly and may even spend time in jail.
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