Against noise

Editorial

Many a heart will flicker with joy, at the news that the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA) has sealed some facilities for noise pollution.

Just as well that the sealed buildings are worship centres: churches and mosques, in projecting noisy worship so insensitively, are notorious for noise aggression in Lagos neighbourhoods. The extent of this menace is reflected in the geographical spread of the sanctioned churches and mosques: Orile Agege, Ketu, Lekki, Ilaje Bariga and Abule Oja, in Yaba.

This religious strain of noise pollution is especially dicey to deal with. The zealots ripple with pious rights to propagate their faith — the Muslim muezzin calling the faithful to dawn prayers over crackling and raucous public address systems; and the hollering and boisterous vigil-attending Christians screaming “Holy Ghost fire!”, denying the poor neighbouring “sinners” of their night sleep.

These zealots are all too aware of the potent blackmail of alleged religious persecution and have, for too long, pressed this rogue advantage in the name of God. It is good that LASEPA has moved to put some of these religious houses in check.

But churches and mosques are not the only guilty parties. Event centres too are, especially those rigged, no thanks to corruption in the registration processes, to operate in wrong areas. There is a particular case, of a public park, corruptly converted to an event centre, in Satellite Town, off Lagos-Badagry Expressway, thus smashing the peace of that particular neighbourhood.

In the traffic too, there appears a happy and merry harvest of noise, in blaring horns, that has absolutely no respect for ear drums. The unfettered noise adds more tension to the already charged up Lagos urban setting, translating to huge costs, in avoidable health bills. Indeed, the Lagos noise pollution challenge is huge. But it is not insurmountable, if LASEPA continues to be deliberate and sure-footed.

Still, to tackle a problem, you must understand its fundaments. Culturally, Africans would appear very expressive. Noise appears the natural follow-up to such expressiveness. But while that is not an especial problem in the rural areas, with noise well diffused amidst wide-spread dwellings among sprawling nature, the choked -up and concentrated activity in urban settings offers a new challenge. Lagos, with its bursting and bustling population, is a noise nightmare.

So, perhaps the first thing LASEPA ought to do is launch an aggressive enlightenment blitz against noise. First, if people tame their natural expressiveness, the general noise level just might reduce. Then, there is the imperative to impose a far more orderly  traffic culture.

So, working closely with traffic agencies, to impose order on the road and reduce erratic driving, will definitely reduce blaring horns, another major cause of noise pollution in Lagos. Drivers of yellow buses; and ‘Okada’ and ‘Marwa’ tricycle operators, need urgent education — and control — on the health dangers of indiscriminate blaring of horns.

But aside from road outlawry, noise-blaring churches and mosques are often traced to indiscriminate approval for such, in residential areas, by registration agencies. On this score, therefore, LASEPA should work more closely with urban and town planning authorities, to consign worship centres to designated areas.

But should there be any need to approve private chapels or mosques, then adequate measures must be taken for the beneficiaries to put in place anti-noise gadgets, so that worship and prayer activities don’t come across as community nuisance. With such careful planning, based on the credo of prevention being better than cure, LASEPA would be obliged to seal far less worship centres.

As far as tackling the menace in built-up areas, however, LASEPA is on the right track of sealing to compel sensitivity and ultimate correction. It stands especially on solid grounds, on a combination of carrot and stick: moral suasion to appeal to the good conscience of worship centres; and stiff sanctions to deal with recalcitrant ones.

In sealing those churches and mosques, in commemorating the 2019 United Nations International Day of Tolerance, Dr. Dolapo Fasawe, LASEPA general manager, was spot on, in her comment: “Religious organisations … are supposed to be the bastion of good conduct, tolerance, brotherliness and good neighbourliness,” so “LASEPA will not rest on its oars in bequeathing a livable ambience to all inhabitants of the state. Those recalcitrant organisations or worship centres,” she warned, “known to be disturbing the peace of Lagosians would face the full wrath of the law.”

That was well said. Still, the right to communal peace should be balanced with the right to religious worship, without turning a communal nuisance. That is why LASEPA should radically push its post-sealing reconciliation policy. If the churches and mosques should clinch a “no noise” deal with their host communities, and such deals are effectively implemented, both sides would have mutually enforced their rights.

That is the way to go, even while averting such complications in new settlements.