Calabar, the Cross River State's capital in the southern part of of Nigeria, was without doubt the cleanest state capital and a reference point for almost all the states in Nigeria.
Under the administration of His Excellency, Gov. Donald Duke, Calabar maintained a clean and green status much to the admiration of tourists and citizens.
The clean and green status was taken seriously to the point that it was in the subconscious of residents and visitors of the state capital because of the zero tolerance and strict compliance to laws on non littering and proper disposal of refuse in the waste bins which were placed at strategic locations within Calabar.
It was so serious that the entire city of Calabar was always swept and refuse were cleared from the city before 7am. Trees and grasses were also taken care of too. Also buildings along the high ways and municipal areas were always painted and kept sparkling, failure to adheare to this strict codes of conduct, results to owners of such buildings paying huge fines.
Residents of Calabar and citizens of Cross River state always talked about how clean their state capital was and were never comfortable when they visit other states and see the way they handle the environment with litering of refuse and poor handling of dump sites.
Sadly, just like government policies and lack of continuity, gradually the level of handling of the clean and green status of Calabar after the administration of Gov. Donald Duke by the Sen. Liyel Imoke, led administration started dwindling as contractors handling the jobs were either changed or owed for the job.
The situation got to an administration in 2014 due to the political activities which made the government to focus her attention on producing a successor in the person of Sen. Prof. Ben Ayade, with neglect on the negative impact this had on the health of residents and citizens of Calabar.
Fast forward to 2015 after the inauguration of the Sen. Prof. Ben Ayade, led administration. The government went into action by swiftly clearing all refuse within the city thereby restoring fresh air in the city.
Now to the dismay of residents and citizens, the city of Calabar has become an eye sore with every street in Calabar litered with heaps of refuse with zero concern from government and relevant agencies for the evacuation of the refuse and restoration of the lost glory of the state.
Most commentators are pointing at the Governor but I wish to ask if the local government Chaiman/Lady of the two LGAs that make up Calabar can't arrange for the evacuation of this refuse from their various LGAs and keep it neat for residents and visitors?.
Mind you, Cross River state is still considered one of the top tourism hubs in Nigeria but the current state of the city is not befitting of such status and all stakeholders involved must spare time from their involvement in politics and salvage residents of this pending health outbreak due to the damages been done by the constant neglect of these heap loads of refuse.
I urge everyone to take this situation seriously and posterity will be pleased with everyone that will lend a voice and also take physical action to salvage the state of this mess.
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