BARELY six weeks after making the headlines with the sudden death of former Governor Abubakar Audu, after casting his vote when all seemed set for his return to government house, Kogi State is in the news again.

But this time, it is for the heaps of refuse that have dotted the landscape of Lokoja, the state capital.

Just like it was months before the governorship election, the stretches of eyesore on major roads in the city have forced residents to celebrate during this festive period in a filthy environment with the attendant pungent odour emanating from the refuse heaps.

Residents have been left to lament the non- evacuation of refuse, and use of crude means of setting fire on them, thereby letting out excessive smoke, which is hazardous to citizen’s health.

The smoke that keeps bellowing over the entire capital city has become a source of health hazard for the residents. Yet, there is no respite for residents, as government officials look the other way.

Three months ago, the heaps had disappeared probably because of the efforts of the incumbent to use it as a selling point for winning the peoples’ votes.

Now the election has been won and lost, the situation in the city has defiled all known logic, especially the fact that Kogi civil servants have been on an indefinite strike for non-payment of their salaries for about three months.

A concerned resident, Suleiman Opite, finds it difficult to explain how a government would abandon its responsibility just because workers are on strike.

He said there are other remedial measures, which the governor could employ, such as engaging some of the workers in the sanitation agency on pay as you work bases, at least, to keep the city clean.

Another resident, Mrs. Agnes Abubakar said the idea of setting fire on the refuse does not speak well of a government that is about to round off its tenure.

This nonchalant attitude she indicated is to say the least that the Government does not care for the welfare of its citizens.

“Do they know the danger of many residents inhaling smoke from burnt refuse that may exude poisonous gases after being burnt?” she asked.

The eyesore, which is growing daily at strategic locations meant for refuse collection by the Sanitation Agency, has been taken to a ridiculous level, whereby every available space on streets and road divides are used as dumpsites.

The gains made by the sanitation agency weeks before the election are, however, not noticed because of appalling heaps of filth at Ibrahim Taiwo Road, 200 Housing Unit Junction on Ganaja Road, Federal University Junction, and many other points in the city.

An environmentalist in the city Adeyemi Abeni, described the situation as unfortunate, saying it could negatively dent the reputation of the outgoing Government. He described the practice of using fire to burn the waste as archaic and out of place, saying that smoke from the smoldering heaps constitutes a source of air pollution and hence serious health hazard.

Refuse collection points all over the city. The Guardian checks on the last day of the year at Catholic Cathedral and Bishop Denise School, the zenith Bank junction, Aniebo Quarters gate and many other centers, showed that the use of fire is now the order.

Other refuse collection points affected according to The Guardian checks around the city include most of the collection points at Adankolo, Obasanjo Square, close to the old market, Phase I Market and Federal University Lokoja Junction.

Virtually all parts of Lokoja are affected.
One of the aides of the governor, who spoke in defense of his principal but would not want his name in prints, said the refuse are left unattended to because workers are on strike.

The organised Labour in the state had directed its members to embark on indefinite strike from midnight of December 23, 2015 as protest against the non- compliance with their demands in their earlier bulletin.