Abia state government at the weekend challenged northerners residing in the state to assist the state government in its onerous tasks of maintaining a healthy and clean environment.
According to the government, the issue of cleanliness should be the concern of all residents, adding that it should be taken with the seriousness it deserves in order to forestall an outbreak of an epidemic.
The Commissioner for Environment, Mr Tony Nwamuo who threw this challenge in Umuahia explained that some residents of the state especially those from the northern part of the country are usually unserious with the monthly environmental exercises in the state.
The Environment Commissioner, who spoke through the Director, Pollution Control and Environmental Health, Ikechukwu Ukegbu observed that the Ama Hausa axis of the Umuahia is not always kept clean as expected.
Ukegbu, who inspected the area at Eket street, Umuahia expressed shock at the dirty condition of environment and the refusal of the community to clean up the place, pointing out the government would not condoned the lackadaisical attitude of the northern community in keeping their immediate environment clean.
He therefore assured that the state government will further engage the leaders of the Hausa Community to ensure they do the right thing.
He declared, “Everybody is trying to be very careful on issues that concerns ethnicity, but we will also not fold our hands and see things go wrong”.
On monthly sanitation exercise, the Commissioner remarked that the exercise is usually done to keep the environment healthy, especially now that the COVID-19 is ravaging the landscape.
Uche Nwosu is a two time Shell Petroleum PLC award winner in the year 2000;
He won the Shell Award on Investigative Journalism and Environmental Cleanliness.
