Idahosa flags off environmental sanitation exercise in Benin and environs ...Calls on residents to take ownership of exercise as he inspects donated waste management equipment

By Bernadette Idalu

The Edo State deputy governor, Hon. Dennis Idahosa on Saturday, May 31, 2025, at the National Museum Ground, Oba Ovonranmwen Kings Square,  Benin City, flagged off Edo State's reintroduced monthly environmental sanitation exercise, with a call on residents to implement the sanitation exercise.

The deputy governor who thanked Governor Monday Okpebholo for giving directives for the flag off and implementation of the reintroduced monthly environmental sanitation exercise, called on all Edo state residents clustered within the eighteen local government areas of the state to comply with the laid down environmental sanitation exercise and timeline, operational every last Saturday of the month, from 7-10am.

Idahosa in his address, called on all to see the exercise as a clarion call and a civic responsibility to take ownership of "our environment, cherish the land we call our homes, to make for a healthier and more sustainable state that guarantees healthy living."

He observed, "Our environment is not just a backdrop of our lives, but, the very foundation of our health; economy and the legacy we leave behind for the next generation.

"We must in strong terms discourage the indiscriminate disposal of refuse, particularly, the blockage of our drainages with refuse and littering of our streets and surroundings. 

"A clean environment is not a luxury but a necessity for wellbeing. It is our duty to ensure that cleanliness becomes a way of life for the people who reside in Edo State."

He stated that the reintroduced monthly environmental sanitation exercise was about building an environmental culture of stewardship in Edo State, hence the need to instill in people values of responsibility and respect for nature- "Let's cultivate a habit that ensures sustainability."

Just as he urged youths to take ownership and lead this initiative, he also called on traditional and religious institutions across the state to help with sensitizing citizens on the importance of this exercise as the journey towards a cleaner Edo State is one that demands constant vigilance, commitment and readiness to hold each other accountable.

Idahosa also inspected waste management equipment donated by government to the Edo State Waste Management Board comprising three units of brand new "Pay loaders" and two units of "Compactor trucks."

The Managing Director, Edo State Waste Management Board, Mr. Lucky Enehita Inegbenehi thanked  Governor Okpebholo for prioritizing environmental sustainability and his deputy, Idahosa, whose energy he said, was amazing during the sanitation exercise. He gave kudos to the people of Edo State for compliance to the sanitation process, stating that without them, the milestones recorded during the environmental sanitation exercise would have been in vain.

Counting recorded gains, Inegbenehi upheld that due to this exercise, the state has been able to activate nineteen (19) mobile courts in the state, with two in Oredo, and seventeen (17) in the other local government areas, a move he claimed to be unprecedented.

He called on Edo State residents to adopt and abide by the monthly environmental sanitation exercise law to significantly eradicate  malaria malaise incidents and Cholera.

Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Mr. Jude Ekpu thanked Governor Okpebholo for supporting the agency with equipment and all they need to make Edo State one of the cleanest state's in Nigeria.

An environmental sanitation volunteer and civil rights activist, Leftist Omobude Agho stated that the exercise was a good start to a hitherto moribund activity.

He appreciated the deputy governor for leading an entourage which monitored and ensured compliance through three local government areas (Oredo, Egor, Ikpoba-Okha and parts of Ovia North-East ) within the Benin metropolis where the sanitation exercise, according to him, was found to be good. He noted that there are expectations for a better exercise in the coming month, backed by adequate sensitization and an awareness drive.

Nonetheless, he called on people to step forth and collaborate with government, becoming volunteers on the "Edo must be clean" project.

The reintroduced monthly environmental sanitation exercise  which started with pep talks at the Oba Ovonranmwen Kings Square,  swung into enforcement mode at 7:00am with the joint task force on sanitation taking ownership of roads within the Benin metropolis, snaking through Akpakpava to Forestry road, down to Dawson and to New Benin market. 

The enforcement team headed to Uselu, then to Ugbowo, down to Oluku. A "U- turn" was made, with the team heading back, via earlier mentioned routes, down to Sapele road, for a final detour at Erediawa street, off Santana market, to Ezoti Street where defaulters earlier picked along mentioned routes by the enforcement team had their time with the judiciary where they faced legal action at the Environmental Sanitation Mobile Courts sitting at Ezoti Street, Benin City, where their pleas were taken and they got tried for flouting environmental sanitation rules and regulations.

During the course of the sanitation, members of the Police Force were noticed with mounted barricades on the ever busy Uselu- Ugbowo axis of the road with inter state luxury bus drivers driving through the state on standby. Edo State street sweepers were spotted doing their job along traversed routes even as private individuals joined in the cleanup of their immediate environment. 

At the New Benin Market, a thrift store (Bend down select boutique) owner, Mrs. Patience Agbonlahor praised Governor Monday Okpebholo for reviving the monthly environmental sanitation exercise. She said she was in the market to ensure a clean environment. However, the Chairman of the Wheel Barrow Pushers Association at Adesuwa Street, Off Upper Mission Road, New Benin, was not in good mood like the other trader for he got apprehended for dunking parts of his operational office in a heap of "refuse," with a backlog of unpaid tax to show.