We Want To Make Abia One Of  The Cleanest States In Nigeria – Gov Otti

By Suleiman Anyalewechi

The Abia State Governor, Dr Alex Otti, has appealed to residents to collaborate with the Government in ensuring a clean, habitable and safe environment.

He also charged constituted Government officials not to compromise their positions in the task of enforcing compliance with extant environmental laws.

This is even as he stated that his adminstration is poised to transform Abia major cities into some of the cleanest in the country.

Governor Otti who spoke in Aba on Wednesday October 9, 2024, at the inauguration ceremony of the Abia State Environmental Protection Agency ASEPA Monitoring and Compliance Team, Aba Zone,  also, called for  concerted efforts to ensure a clean and healthy environment for all.

Represented by Aba Zonal Coordinator of the Abia Harmonized Taskforce and Mayor of Aba South Metropolitan Council, Chief Uche Nwogu, the Governor informed that the constitution of the enforcement team is part of Government’s continued efforts at addressing the problem of poor waste management culture among residents, as well as create a more friendly Eco-System.

To ensure the effective discharge of its primary duty of waste disposal management in the Commercial city, the Governor, also, launched some newly acquired ASEPA waste disposal vehicles and tricycles.

The ASEPA Monitoring and Compliance Team, according to Governor Otti, will serve to  promote the State Government’s  vision of ensuring a clean Abia, and enhance the internally generated revenue profile of the State, through the arrest and penalization of environmental sanitation offenders.

While calling on the people to be properly guided in waste disposal management culture, Governor Otti noted that more refuse collection and disposal buckets will be acquired and placed at strategic locations within the city.

He, however, urged the Monitoring Team to be strict in the discharge of their duties .

“You are the image of the Government and as such, you must conduct yourself with decorum in the line of duty.

“Any body caught extorting members of the public would be made to face the music”, the Governor stated .

He thumped up the Management of ASEPA for the good job that it has been doing in the commercial hub of the State, adding that his administration is determined to make Abia one of the cleanest states in Nigeria.

Earlier the General Manager of ASEPA, Elder Ogbonnaya Okereke informed that the Agency has conceived a template for pragmatically tackling the disturbing trend of indiscriminate waste disposal habit of the people.

This, he noted, has ensured that the State remains clean and healthier. He promised that very soon, monitoring teams will also be launched for Umuahia, the State capital and Ohafia town.

The ASEPA boss noted that the Monitoring Team is to liaise with the Abia state Harmonized Taskeforce  in enforcing the State’s Basic Environmental Laws .

Ogbonnaya expressed the optimism that Aba will, in no distant, time wear the gab of one of the cleanest cities not just in Nigeria, but in West Africa.