'Cleanliness is next to Godliness' isn't just a mere statement; it signifies that maintaining a clean and healthy environment can be compared to upholding a high moral standard. How do you feel when you do the right things, good, right, that is how one should feel when in a clean and healthy environment, as it promotes purity and peace, and you easily get motivated to function well. The reason why in most African homes, the first activity you are involved in the morning is cleaning your environment.
You don't need a degree to know when you are in a healthy environment, even before observing the environment, the first thing you notice is the breath of fresh/clean air, where there is less or no dirt, definitely, that environment is bound to smell fresh. My Idea of a clean environment is an environment where waste is properly disposed of, the cleaning of the environment is taken seriously, if not daily, and also trees are planted to give the environment a beautiful and cool view.
Sadly, my environment and even the state as a whole cannot be categorized as one of the cleanest environments to stay in, it could even have taken a position among the dirtiest places some years back, if not for the intervention of a previous Governor who took cleaning of the state as one of his major agenda, he encouraged planting of trees, and employed a large number of youths, placed under a management known as LAWMA, to keep Lagos clean. Sanctions/fines were placed on any citizen who defiled the law of keeping the environment clean.
Then people adhered to the law as it was strictly passed and followed through but since the end of the Governor's regime, everything went back to square one, people still dump refuse on the roadside, in the drainage, blocking the free flow of water, which often lead to flood during the raining season, and yes we still have to deal with health challenges such as the outbreak of cholera some few months back, and also mosquito, which we know breeds more on stagnant water is still a problem we battle over here,
Though I keep my house clean, we still can't do without coming outside to face these challenges as one can't stay put at home all day.
It took me traveling to another state to observe that we are indeed breathing unhealthy air in Lagos, smoke from exhaust fills the air due to the number of vehicles on the road every day, coupled with the burning of waste by some individuals instead of properly disposing of them, to make it worst, most lands are already used up for housing and industries, and tree planting is not taken important
I've seen a government try and put a stop to this issue of unhealthy environment and he almost succeeded, if not that his tenure was cut short. So I believe if he could succeed as far as he did, any government can too, it's just about making it a priority and enforcing this law with strict fines and sanctions because I know people can be so stubborn to obey simple rules such as not dumping waste anyhow, find the nearest bin if you are on transit, just make it a habit,
Also, more sensitization needs to be made to make every citizen become aware and not ignorant about the benefits of maintaining a clean environment, as prevention is by far better than cure.
Thank you for reading.❤❤