Triple Green Environmental Development Foundation (TGED FOUNDATION) embarks on a monthly envagelism which aims at helping to achieve a sustainable environment through environmental education and awareness. On the 25th of October, 2021 TGED Foundation team visited the textile market, located at Basiri, Ado–Ekiti, Ekiti State, to sensitize the market sellers on the need for proper waste disposal and management. 

One of the major observations made during the environmental evangelism was the fact that the market and its surroundings were relatively neat compared to other markets within the area. When asked about how they were able to maintain such a clean environment, some of the shop owners explained that they usually observed their monthly sanitation exercise regularly and that aside from the monthly sanitation exercise, they try as much as possible to keep their market surroundings very clean by organizing a general market cleanup every Thursday of the week. According to them, this goes a long way in making sure that their surroundings are always kept clean.

Although some of the market sellers acknowledge the fact that the Ekiti State Waste Management Board comes every Tuesday to help collect their waste, others complained of their inconsistency lately, as they sometimes fail to show up at all. Furthermore, some of the sellers lamented that the waste management agency has stopped coming to pick their waste and as such, some of them have resorted to taking their waste home at the end of the day, while some resort to burying their waste.

The major reason behind the inconsistency of the waste management board was later reported by some of the shop owners. According to them, the agency has to bill them a certain amount of money to be paid either weekly or monthly, before the waste can be collected. One of the shop owners lamented that he sees no reason why he should pay any additional money to the agency. He argued that, he pays his tax and that the state government in turn pays the agency and as such, he feels that it’s very unfair on the part of the waste management board asking them to pay additional money before their waste can be collected.

The TGED Foundation team met and spoke with the head of the market women (Aare-Oloja), she on her part confirmed the fact that the waste management authority has stopped coming to collect waste from the market. She stated that she is willing to sit and have a discussion with the waste management authority to see if they can reach an agreement with a fixed price that the people can and are willing to pay, if that is what it will take for their waste to be evacuated.

The Team listened to all their complaints and promised to follow up with the waste management. The team also educates the market people to maintain a clean environment because improper waste management not only ends in a disgusting view, but can also create serious negative environmental impacts like infectious diseases, land and water pollution, obstruction of drains and also loss of biodiversity. The issue of waste management should not be taken lightly as its impacts can affect both the environment and human health in general. For this reason, the TGED foundation is using this opportunity, to call on the Ekiti State Waste Management Authority to look into the issue of waste collection and disposal at the Textile market, located at Basiri, Ado-Ekiti as well as other areas in the state at large that might be having similar issues, as this will go a long way to help put an end to the issues surrounding waste management in the state.