By Nelson Amaobi Osuala
14th of June 2015, 03:25pm.
It was at about 3:35pm few days ago, precisely Last Friday . The sun had refused to smile premised upon the fact that It was the season of rain and as usual, Lagos had experienced so much of those heavy down pour especially in the wee hours of that morning.
I had on that fateful day visited the banking hall of the United Bank Of Africa (UBA), with the intention to upgrade my Biometrics verification Number (BVN) as directed by the Central Bank of Nigeria.
Unfortunately, I was taken aback, being irritated by the length of procedures I was to be subjected to by the customer care attendants, so in that impatience, I resolved to take my leave with the hope to reschedule at a more convenient time as I needed to go see a cousin of mine who lived at just what seems like a stone throw to the bank premises .
After I exited the bank, on my way to my cousin’s.. , My innocent eyes picked up a gigantic image which crippled my nerves. I was perturbed and irritated by the sight of “it”. Words cannot describe how I felt when my eyes captured it. It was as though I saw a ghost in broad day light.. Can you imagine that? indeed an eyesore.I even felt like throwing up all the delicacies I had eaten.
“Na wa for Nigerians.. In fact..These Lagosians, they will never cease to amaze me”! I unconsciously exclaimed.
What will we not see in this country of ours sef?
Before me was a mighty heap of empty water dispenser bottles. so many were they that they were littered everywhere in what looks like an abandoned building, which to my mind could mean a local storage dump .
It was then that I quickly reminisced about the consequent environmental hazards such littered water bottles could cause the body of all those living within that two Mile radius. Also I thought of the attendant health implication of using this same water bottles for household supplies.
Taking a brief recap, I was reminded of my Secondary School days in one of those science classes, in which I learnt about pollution and its causes. Also, I was reminded of the issue of global warming and the emission of green house gases which have raised international concern .
It was at this juncture that I became mad with the perpetrators of such act. Wishing I could just catch up with them and probably squeeze them with my bare Hands if not enlighten them a little .
My worry is that even in developed countries, the case is Not the same like we have here. Over there, things are done meticulously with an environmental consciousness. As a philosopher of environment, who knows the negative resultant effect such dump will do on the People living in that area, I could not but weep for them. Before I could say Jack, hot tears folded in my eyes which I had to battle to restrain.
But lets assume that these products will undergo “recycling” as someone would argue. The question is, how healthy will they be for consumption? Considering the dilapidating, mal nutritive and the crippled nature of our health industrial sector with particular mention of the porosity, the unreliability and the compromised standard of the NAFDAC which has evidently made her an “ugly” beauty!
Comments and reactions are welcomed below.
