A first time visitor to Sango, a town in Ogun State, few kilometres away from Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial nerve centre, can hardly miss the sight of piles of dirt that line up the roads of the ancient town.
But strangely enough, this scenario does not stop the residents of this town from engaging in economic activities: from the meat seller to the soft drinks hawker, and also the fruit vendor, none of them bothers about the dirty environment they display and hawk their wares. More strangely enough, the buyers never seem to care, too. From the thirsty pedestrian who wants a soft drink to quench his thirst to the hungry bus driver (and his conductor) who needs the services of roadside food vendors, buying from these locals in the midst of heaps of refuse do not seem to be a source of worry. It is often said that first impression lasts forever, but this saying may not seem to bother the residents of Sango, Ota, Alagbado, and other areas where our correspondent visited in Ogun State.
As a first time traveller to the town, Oluseyi Oyegbade said she thought the piles of dirt were a sort of exhibition by the locals until she realised it was not so. Having been to Dubai, an economic powerhouse in the United Arab Emirates, Oyegbade said, “One of the things that would certainly catch your first attention when you get to the city is the skyscrapers and the gorgeous-looking streets.”
But that is not so in this part of Ogun State because the piles of dirty bags that line up not just the inner streets, but also the major roads where vehicles and people ply, darken their potential beauty. On our correspondent’s visit to Sango, for instance, one would not be able to tell whether the people living and trading in the Roundabout area, the major economic hub of the town, had nowhere else to dispose their wastes other than the roads.

Even if someone were blind, the odour that emanated from the piles of dirt on the road would tell him a bit about the situation in general. ‘Well- arranged,’ the refuse bags littered everywhere on the road. In this same area, foodstuff sellers were seen laying their wares along the road, not allowing the dirt to deter them from making their money. It was as if it was a sort of display, an exhibition – of dirty bags. “And this is the major business hub – which perhaps would have been thought to be the most attractive sight to behold in the town,” another first time visitor to the town, Abraham Olatunde, complained, Though there were about two large refuse disposal tanks near the roundabout, it was surprising people still prefer disposing their refuse on the road. There were more scenes of dirty piles to behold in Ota, another major town in the state. Right from the take-off from Sango to arrival in Ota, there was none other sight to behold along the road other than that of bags of refuse. Roads in other areas of the state like Alakuko, Agbado, etc. are not exempted from being used as refuse dump grounds. Poor hygiene is the bane of Africa health crisis “No one needs to be a rocket scientist to know that a dirty environment causes health problems. In fact,
the current Ebola outbreak in this part of the world is majorly linked with our practice of poor hygiene. This is just about common sense,” an Ota-based public health expert, Funmilayo Adesuyi, said. Adesuyi opined that diseases could only thrive in places where the people do not care about the maintenance of their environment, rather than their health. She said, “A people’s state of wellbeing starts from the way they regard their environment. If they ignore their outside environment but take care of themselves, they will still be back to zero level. “Even when people live in beautiful homes but operate in dirty environments, they may also suffer from the same set of diseases that those who live in the streets do. Why? Because they will not live in their beautiful homes forever; they would go out to buy meat from the meat seller who operates in a dirty environment, and they could fall sick from consuming such. The effects are innumerable. “A dirty environment is a fruitful place for bacteria to thrive. In fact, studies have shown that our aversion to dirt has resulted in widespread cases of asthma. And in our paranoia concerning germs and
dirt, we often use antibiotics carelessly, causing great damage to our human environment. “And by using anti-bacterial drugs, we end up killing useful life forms in us and strengthen the nasty ones. There are certain harms we have caused our body systems due to our dirty environment.” Adesuyi concluded that people should not wait on the government to get rid of dirt from their environment because in the end of it all, government does not suffer from possible outbreak of diseases; the people do. “People should learn to do certain things for themselves without calling on the government. Those people you see piling up the bags of dirt on those roads are not the government, they are the people. A man reasonable enough should know that it’s wrong because when disease breaks, it is not going to affect the government, but the people,” Adesuyi said. An Ibadan-based environmentalist, Mr. Femi Alao, said apart from a possible outbreak of diseases in Ogun State, if the residents keep piling up dirt in their streets, the environment also becomes more polluted and more species of animal become extinct because of their poor habitat. Alao stated that ensuring proper hygiene does not benefit only human beings, but also the animals that live in their environment. He also said there were many environmental challenges that were endangering the climate and survival of the living things therein, and that it is only through the proper management of the environment that human beings could survive the impending environmental crisis. He said, “Animals have rights, too, just like human beings. Nature too does. And what we turn this environment to determines the survival of all of us. Imagine people leaving rubbish lying around on our roads, apart from the danger it poses to our health, such rubbish either gets washed away and animals in the sea mistake it for food and it kills lots of them. “We are also talking about soil and water pollution which could arise from such a scenario. Each time it rains heavily in Ibadan here, for instance, it is always followed by flood which destroys lives and property. “So piling up dirt on the roads has multiple effects, apart from being a shameful act by the people. It is a bad behaviour on the part of the people because even if no one tells them, they should know. But if they keep doing that, I believe the Ogun State government could now also enforce more stringent
environmental laws.” Dirty environments lead to mental problems A psychologist, Mrs. Tolu Adegoke, said that there are studies that link depression in human beings to their dirty environment. Apart from depression, there are also a number of mental health problems that could arise from the scenario where people keep dirt in their homes or in the streets. She said, “For someone who comes all the way from a clean environment, setting their eyes on those dirty piles could make them feel depressed. There are studies that proved that. “Depression and other mental health ailments are conditions that people can get as a result of living in
dirty environment, especially for children. In fact, a dirty, messy or cluttered environment might be overwhelming to some kids, causing them to become aggressive, angry or violent due to the frustration caused by such environments. “It is therefore important that we learn to keep both our homes and our environments clean and tidy. It helps our mental health and even tells a story about our personalities.” An official of the Ogun State Environmental Task Force, who identified himself simply as Mr. Bello, told Saturday PUNCH that it was the act of disobedience on the part of the residents of the areas where our correspondent visited that was responsible for the scenario. He said, “We clean these areas everyday and there are even tanks which are placed at strategic places for people to dump refuse in, but they would not obey. We cannot work 24/7 and that is why those tanks are there. “But this is one thing we have discovered: once we finish cleaning these areas every morning, before we could say Jack Robinson, these people have placed those dirt bags on the road again. Inspection cannot be done at every minute of the day which is why these people are having a field day.” The Ogun State Commissioner for Environment, Mr. Ayo Olubori, could not be reached as of the time of filing this report as his phone number was unreachable.
www.punchng.com/feature/in-ogun-people-live-trade-in-the-midst-of-dirt/

@op prepare to face life ban for their to post such eye opening gory tales against an APC controled state.

At least they do not feed on the dirts like the people of aba in the south eastern nigeria do

Op, you don buy bad market

I'm not surprised. There is a reason it is called the"South West"

Aouch!
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Wat a slap!

Where are those people that took Aba matter personal?
Let them come and comment about this one in their backyard.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxsfP7KkTQ4

Collynzo17: Where are those people that took Aba matter personal?
Let them come and comment about this one in their backyard.

Truly this is bad.
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But Sango-ota is still a "learner" compared to Aba.

I thought only my state, Abia was dirty! Some people will never be better because they keep hiding their problems. I expect people from Ogun state to come and fight off everybody here and claim its just a propaganda. That way, their government wouldn't be shamed into doing something positive.

Are you blind? This looks better than Aba now!

Collynzo17: Where are those people that took Aba matter personal?
Let them come and comment about this one in their backyard.

MizzD: At least they do not feed on the dirts like the people of aba in the south eastern nigeria do

Did you even read the post?. I guess you're the type that comment before reading.

Omexonomy: @op prepare to face life ban for their to post such eye opening gory tales against an APC controled state.

You always sound incoherent.

Collynzo17: Where are those people that took Aba matter personal?
Let them come and comment about this one in their backyard.

ABa is the Dirtiest city in nigeria. Ogun is still a learner and that's why the OP had only two pictures to buttress his point.

TribalEAST: ABa is the Dirtiest city in nigeria. Ogun is still a learner and that's why the OP had only two pictures to buttress his point.

Are you sure?
Then you should spend more time talking about Ogun so that it doesn't get as dirty as Aba.

Chinazaekperem2

are u still in church??

all4naija: Smh...! Why is Nigerian environment so dirty? Don't the people and leaders know it is no good for human health? I hate the environment of Nigeria! It is disturbing to my eyes!

Omg...when I read your post I wonder how old are you.
Do you talk from dream or with sense at all ?
Where have u been to in nigeria ?
Do you bleeping think your sh1t country don't have this aswell ?
All country worldwide have this ok.
So stfu.

Another bashing thread? Una no dey tire

Collynzo and other ibo, yoruba e warrior let me not see you guys defending Nigeria in any ghana/nigeria thread. you guys ridicule nigeria before others by continuously posting pictures of worst place in any part of Nigeria just to bash each other, forget all this media rant every part of Nigeria has got this dirty environment and some are even worst


Nothing good to report other than this aba, oshgbo red zinc trash you guys keep recycling here

nairaland pls allow peopl 2 say tht truth so tht peopl 'll learn and change, yoruba too dirty period. thtz d truth instead of changin thy prefer to quarrel.

They probably commented about Aba, because it's a new trend to see the SE roads and environs unkept. But in SW the environment ,buildings and sanitary conditions has always been in a deplorable condition since 1960. It's no news.

richeso:

Omg...when I read your post I wonder how old are you.
Do you talk from dream or with sense at all ?
Where have u been to in nigeria ?
Do you bleeping think your sh1t country don't have this aswell ?
All country worldwide have this ok.
So stfu.

Dude, that is a major and famous location in Lagos (Oreguns) looking like trash. That is preposterous to say the least. I hate it when Nigerians like you start blabbing when told the truth. For the very reason you can not explain such a place is a common area in developed countries is a big disgrace on side. You haven't traveled out of Nigeria and that country is deceiving you, you village champion!

Omexonomy: @op prepare to face life ban for their to post such eye opening gory tales against an APC controled state.

Be careful.

Over sweetened headline, I've been seeing mostly pictures of bad roads

all4naija: Dude, that is a major and famous location in Lagos (Oreguns) looking like trash. That is preposterous to say the least. I hate it when Nigerians like you start blabbing when told the truth. For the very reason you can not explain such a place is a common area in developed countries is a big disgrace on side. You haven't traveled out of Nigeria and that country is deceiving you, you village champion!

Oh nairaland..I wihs u charge 20naira par post I believe many people go use sense dey post when dem want post

And for you mugu. Tell me the countries you will not find such and I will show you heaven.
Try to grow sense ok.. No be today monky dey find bad places or bad things to talk about nigeria
At the end u go say na word for us to take on.
Go preach that shit to usa or your Bleep country. To show u we are working towards this, go to
Lekki, ajah, ikoyi, vi or festac etc. U will see proof.

I have worst picture from Aba (ahia ohuru). Don't make me dig them up.

Ogun state environment is just one of the worst in Nigeria.Go through Shagamu to Ikorodu via NNPC, you will regret ever traveling that road.The people their when asked said that they have not seen light there as the PHCN has sold their light to Indian companies there.

Here is Aba in Abia State. I have worst o!

nothing to see here, nigs being nigs.

Why are blacks so filthy? Look at Detroit, blacks and filth go together.

Collynzo17:
Are you sure?
Then you should spend more time talking about Ogun so that it doesn't get as dirty as Aba.

This is terrible