I can bet that Martin Luther King jnr, the American civil right legend, did not particularly have anybody in mind when he made the statement: “If you find yourself a street sweeper, sweep so well that heavens shall say, here was a street sweeper.” But, today, it does appear he was talking to Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu, the Deputy General Manager of Abia State Environmental Protection Agency (ASEPA). Ikpeazu has found himself a street sweeper. He is sweeping so well.
In the last one year, Ikpeazu, an environmental expert, has lived out the wisdom of Luther. He has been sweeping the streets of Aba, the major commercial hub of South East in the spirit of the counsels of Luther. And heavens have had to say, “here is a street sweeper!” Both visitors to Aba, residents and indeed all Abians have had to hail the efforts and dedication of this environmental manager. Ikpeazu has been able to keep the vision of Theodore Orji, the state governor, aflame in the area of environmental protection and maintenance.
Before the Aba area was made an autonomous unit of ASEPA under the headship of Ikpeazu, the city had obvious challenges with dirt management and environmental maintenance. The residents did not also help matters with their manner of disposal of refuse. But, with the vision of Governor Theodore Orji who re-strategized and made the Aba section of ASEPA an autonomous unit, Ikpeazu took full responsibility to execute the governor’s vision of ensuring that Aba remains a clean and healthy place with a sustainable environment for living and for business. Today, there is a tremendous success.
On a visit to the city last yuletide, I saw the governor’s vision at work. I saw a city that has been transformed. The mountains of refuse heaps have all disappeared and the incinerators are no more an eyesore. But, this new status of the city was not legislated into existence. It came by dint of hard work, kudos to Ikpeazu and his dynamic team. To the University of Maiduguri-trained biochemist, the new assignment was like a clarion call to duty. “I saw it as a calling and as a challenge because the problem of dirt management in Aba seemed to have defied all solutions and it was a point of criticism against the government,” he said.
Besides the dirt itself, Ikpeazu, first of all, had to grapple with the stereotype of Aba people being impossible to manage and please. He had to deal with this notion first before embarking on the work. “Before, there was this erroneous notion that Aba People are impossible. But, today, I can say it’s not true. When they saw action, they started co-operating. All what Aba needed was a little re-orientation. All what they need to see to follow you is a little sincerity,” declared Ikpeazu.
The task, indeed, was herculean. Ikpeazu said at the onset his team was evacuating 750 tons of refuse everyday and later graduated to more than 900 tons. He counted 68 heaps of refuse dumps scattered around the city with each taking between 35 to 68 trucks. The team had only two functional vehicles. Other vehicles were in a state of disrepair. There was almost no logistics support. There were some bad spots like Ngwa Road that took 92 trucks to evacuate the heaps. Ikpeazu disclosed that after the initial combat action, the team started refurbishing the trucks and now there ten functional trucks in the services of the Aba unit of ASEPA.
As a form of incentive, the governor later moved in and donated a garbage truck and six receptacles and two brand new buses. He also promised to give the team a tractor with back holes. “With this incentive, we stabilized.”
But, the success recorded by the team so far in keeping Aba clean is also a product of creativity. Ikpeazu has to devise a process that would facilitate his work. “We developed a culture and a process where garbage collection starts by 5pm and we work till 11pm in the night. In the morning, we start mopping up the area and close the buckets,” he said. The group also thought out an innovation. They mounted a generator on a tricycle popularly called keke, and fixed a halogen light on it. They call it ASEPA Power Pack. With this, they are able to work at night. The unit has also made efforts to provide a conducive working environment for staff. They have to introduce a mobile clinic and engage the services of experts to render healthcare services to staff and handle particular cases of respiratory ailments. This is a 24-hour service.
Moving forward, what is the goal of the Aba unit of ASEPA under Ikpeazu? Where is he driving his team to? “Our goal is that in the next two months, we want to reduce our reaction time from three hours to one hour for clearing of residual refuge and cleaning. If the governor continues to enhance our capacity, we will have enough garbage trucks to be on standby.” He told this writer.
Indeed, the success of the ASEPA in Aba is a fulfillment of the vision of Governor Orji to tackle and address the problems of the cumulative decay of the city which started with the previous administrations of the state. The idea is to create an enabling environment for the reemergence of the small and medium scale enterprises and for the growth of the informal sector in Aba. The goal is to restore the lost glory of Aba.
In those days of Orji’s predecessor, Aba became a house of horror. Public places were allocated out to cronies as shops, public school premises were converted into mini-markets and people got kangaroo approvals to build over drainages. Shops and illegal structures erupted from everywhere. The entire market road, Cemetery Road, Ngwa Road and the major streets in the central areas of the city became free zones for all manners of hawking. The situation was worsened by the menace of flood and filth.
With ASEPA, the governor came on a rescue mission – to achieve environmental rehabilitation. He is vindicated by the new status of the ancient city.
By: Godwin Adindu
