FCT Residents Demand Reintroduction of Monthly Sanitation Exercise

Some residents of Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have called for reintroduction of periodic sanitation exercise, to keep the territory clean, address hygiene challenges and environmental pollution.
The residents, who spoke in separate interviews in Abuja, said periodic sanitation exercise, if properly enforced, would significantly improve public health.
The residents wondered why the exercise, which they were already used to, and dedicated for carrying out collective thorough cleaning of their environment, was suspended in the first place.
The residents, therefore, called for the reintroduction of the monthly exercise in order to take ownership of their surroundings and improve the overall cleanliness of their environment.
The monthly sanitation exercise was introduced across the country in 1984 during the military regime of Maj.-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari.
The sanitation exercise was backed by a Decree titled, War Against Indiscipline (WAI), which restricted movements every last Saturday of the month, for three hours, for people to clean their environment.
Because of the importance of the monthly exercise in promoting clean and healthy environment, fostering a sense of community responsibility, it gradually became a culture across states, decades after the Buhari’s military regime.
The exercise, which was modified and redefined across states, in implementation, in the areas of date, duration and strict enforcement, however, gradually declined in effectiveness and participation.
It would also be recalled that, few months after his appointment as FCT Minister, Mr Nyesom Wike, announced the decision of his administration to reintroduce monthly sanitation, as part of strategies to keep the city clean.
Specifically on Aug. 29, 2023, the minister said he had already briefed President Bola Tinubu on the idea that, at least, two Saturdays in a month will be declared for sanitation from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m.
He had explained that the move would enable companies supporting the FCT with logistics to go to market and other public places to evacuate refuse.
“We must all make sacrifices. There is nothing like, we are going to suffer. You also contribute to refuse.
“So, if you spare three hours on a Saturday at home to clear the refuse and bring them out for us to evacuate and dispose, then that is the little way you can help,” the minister had said.
NAN reports that the reintroduction of the monthly sanitation exercise has, however, not been implemented, two years after the announcement by the minister.
Mr Amos Abache, a resident and community leader in Bwari town, told NAN that, restoring monthly sanitation day with full enforcement by relevant authorities, would promote community participation in cleaning, and waste management.
He frowned at the development where major streets in Bwari and other satellite towns in the territory have been turned to dump sites with attendant health, sanitation and aesthetic implications.