On 1st October 1968, the then Prime Minister of Singapore, the late Sir Lee Kuan Yew launched the “Keep Singapore Clean Campaign” programme. The aim was to make Singapore the cleanest and greenest city in the region by addressing the problem of inconsiderate littering. It also sought to instil in Singaporeans the importance of keeping their homes and public places clean. Two decades after the launch of the campaign, the tiny island-nation did not only emerge as the cleanest in the region, but on the global map as one of the cleanest and neatest cities in the world. Till date, Singapore has consistently remained among the 10 top neatest cities on the globe.
The recent initiative to keep Sokoto clean by Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal who made a pledge of One Million Naira to the cleanest street in Sokoto should be a welcome development and something worthy of emulation by his co-Governors in Nigeria. Waste management has become a serious challenge which many developing nations have not given a proper attention despite it hazardous implications. In the case of Nigeria, it’s a phenomenon as even the capital city of our nation is not immune or can boast of proper waste management and refuse collection method.
Campaigns are meant to have a long term impact. However, human errors, wrong judgement or a lack of foresight during the introduction of campaigns can sometimes lead to failures or even disasters. For example, in 1958 the new China launched the Four Pests Campaign in a bid to eliminate rats, flies, mosquitoes and sparrows. The sparrows were targeted because they ate the farmers’ grain seeds. In a short time, millions of Chinese were mobilised for the campaign. Sparrows, as well as other birds, were shot, with their nests and eggs destroyed. Soon, the Chinese government realised that, besides eating grains, sparrows were also natural predators to many insects. It was too late then. By 1960, rice farms in China were swarmed by locusts, leading to the Great Chinese famine in which millions died of starvation.
Singapore had launched over 200 campaigns in the seventies and eighties. Many of these campaigns have had positive effects. They include: water-saving, speak mandarin campaign, Greening Singapore, keep Singapore clean campaign, public health campaign, wash your hand, anti-drug, Breastfeeding, safe water, anti-spiting, anti-smoking, anti-littering and keep Singapore crime free.
The Keep Sokoto Clean scheme will require intensive usage of media and campaigns in other to achieve its goals. Sometimes, a campaign represents an era, and some of its posters go on to become iconic representations that are even remembered after decades. The masses should be educated to know the merits of living in a clean environment and also to make them recognize why it really matters to their health. But this could only be possible with the support of citizens whose cooperation with the government is very essential to make the environment clean, safe and fresh.
The government should use posters and banners in major languages to be displayed in public places such as shops, markets, restaurants, offices, factories, community centres, motor parks and public notice boards. Mini-posters, stick-up strips, leaflets, pamphlets and car-bumper stickers should also be distributed with the Clean Sokoto campaign slogan. In addition to the distribution of collaterals, various public and education activities should be organised in major languages. These include talks and lectures by health officials, inspections and spot checks by government officials, rallies, exhibitions and estate cleaning exercises by the residents.
The cleanest offices, streets, estates, shopping complex, restaurants, markets, government buildings and schools should be rewarded. The information should be announced publicly, highlighting both the cleanest and the dirtiest. Not only would the offenders be branded as litterbugs; film clips and photographs of dirty premises, streets or people caught in the act of littering should be shown and broadcast in the mass media.
Besides the use of social pressure, the Keep Sokoto Clean campaign should not only be rewarding as promised; the governor should lead the campaign alongside top government functionaries as did by the late Sir Lee Kuan Yew in Singapore in order to give the scheme prominence. In order to enforce the campaign, specific amounts of fine should be used as a way to control the offenders. The state environmental agency and other stakeholders should from time to time send officers on patrol to counsel members of the public against littering and its consequences.
The government must empower the unit saddled with the responsibility of implementing the scheme with adequate budgetary allocation, technical and logistic support. There should be adequate provision of waste roll-off containers at vulnerable streets, refuse carts, development of proper sewage systems and drainages. In other to enforce the scheme, laws need to be enacted to make it compulsory for all commercial and public offices to have refuse disposal bags and containers at their business and operations premises. The collection of refuse and waste for proper disposal by the concerned authorities at least twice or once in a week should be timely in other to avoid pollution of the environment. With recycling technology, waste collected in the city can be successfully recycled for economic benefit.
To ensure that good habits are cultivated from a young age, children and students should be special target groups of the campaign and teachers should be involved to remind students not to litter the environment. The cities of Calgary, Luxemburg, Zurich, Adelaide, Freiburg, Singapore, Kobe, Stockholm, Vienna and Oslo which are today ranked as the cleanliest cities in the world didn’t just wake up in a day and achieved the status. The idea was initiated, nurtured and sustained just as Governor Tambuwal has indicated his willingness and zeal to make Sokoto a clean city. It is an undeniable fact that a cleaner city would lead to a more pleasant life, safe drinking water, low level of diseases and pollution, thus creating the necessary social conditions for higher economic growth through industry and tourism. The administration should place more importance on educating and enlightening the citizens on the need to be more conscious and thoughtful about their actions in relation to cleanliness.
The Keep Sokoto Clean initiative if well implemented, nurtured and sustained would have a positive impact on the city throughout the coming years. While lauding the foresight of Tambuwal’s administration to make Sokoto a clean city, it is imperative for his administration to evolve and broaden the programme by making “Greening” of the city part of the “Cleaning” campaign just as the Singapore model.
- Yahaya wrote in from Kado-Estate, Abuja
