A dumpsite of this magnitude, located so close to residential, commercial and traffic corridors, cannot continue to operate in this manner. When compactors block access roads and spill onto major ramps, the problem is no longer hidden inside the landfill. It has entered the city. It has entered public life. It has entered our nostrils, our lungs and possibly our hospitals… Government must do something fast.
LAST Saturday, we paid a courtesy visit to Chief Olusosun, that famous landlord of filth who sits comfortably around Ojota, inhaling his own perfume and receiving endless visitors from across Lagos.
This morning, I passed the same route again.
Brethren, Chief Olusosun has gained more popularity since the last time we mentioned him.
His followers have multiplied.
His palace has expanded.
His loyal subjects, the compactors, having waited for so long to pay obeisance to their beloved chief, have now decided that mere visitation is no longer enough. They appear to have applied for permanent residency.
In Yoruba, we say: “Ki eku ile, ko so fun t’oko.”
Let the house rat go and invite the bush rat.
But in this case, the bush rats have not only arrived, they came with luggage, extended family members, and tenancy agreements.
The compactors now come in droves, dressed in their squirmy, squeaky, dirty look, wearing odour as perfume and carrying flies as escorts. They have suddenly become celebrated landlords of Olusosun.
With great effrontery, they no longer limit themselves to the service road leading to the dumpsite. No. That one is now too small for their ambition.
They have spilled onto the ramp of the cloverleaf at the former toll gate, stretching their filthy authority into public space as though they have received a Certificate of Occupancy from the Ministry of Environmental Nuisance.
The scene is horrific!!!
It reminds one of the old cement armada days, when trailers waiting to pick cement from the ports lined up for kilometres from Apapa towards Western Avenue. But at least those trailers carried cement.
These compactors come with serious attitude and baggage: stench, flies, dirt, dripping waste, blocked access, environmental insult and public health danger.
They have colonised the area.
Motorists are forced to behold the spectacle. Residents nearby are forced to inhale it. Pedestrians and commuters are forced to negotiate their way around it. The whole environment looks like a civic embarrassment waiting to become a health emergency.
And this is the real matter.
Satire may make us laugh, but this one should make us uncomfortable.
A dumpsite of this magnitude, located so close to residential, commercial and traffic corridors, cannot continue to operate in this manner. When compactors block access roads and spill onto major ramps, the problem is no longer hidden inside the landfill. It has entered the city. It has entered public life. It has entered our nostrils, our lungs and possibly our hospitals.
Government must do something fast.
The residents around Olusosun deserve better than this daily assault of sight and stench. The road users deserve better. The environment deserves better. Lagos deserves better.
Before an epidemic breaks out, before the flies become official environmental ambassadors, before Chief Olusosun and his compactors finally declare themselves an autonomous republic, the relevant authorities must act.
The access road must be cleared immediately.
The movement of compactors must be properly scheduled and managed.
The surrounding area must be cleaned, deodorised and protected.
And above all, Lagos must urgently rethink the long-term future of Olusosun.
A megacity cannot continue to wear refuse as a badge of honour.
Moral of the rejoinder:
For the sake of public health, environmental dignity and the prevention of an epidemic, government should do something fast.
