Street sweepers in Cross River and shame of state

What transpired last week in Calabar between Cross River State Governor Ben Ayade and protesting street sweepers is not only sad, but reprehensible. Our flimsy system of environmental governance, where little is given but much is expected, was exposed for what it was. The women, who numbered over 100, surrounded Ayade’s office, blocking it with trash, and claimed they were owed four months’ worth of wages for their environmental services. Their actions generated a lot of media coverage, which infuriated the government. However, it was a terrible heartbreak for those who had previously fallen in love with Destination Calabar.

It is also a reproach to us as citizens, particularly to those from the middle or upper classes. We have a certain perspective on environmental sanitation. It is considered to be a filthy task for the lower classes. Sweeping, cleaning, and garbage removal have not only come to be associated with the lowly paid “cleaners,” but also with the people at the bottom of the food chain. It is for the boys and girls of the house. So much so that even the housechildren are not allowed to dispose of trash in our homes; only helpers are allowed.

Our treatment of office cleaners and street sweepers is a reflection of how little respect we have for them. The sweepers receive pitiful wages for rising early and maintaining our streets. These sweepers and waste handlers are exposed to risks because, contrary to what is available in more developed climes, waste is not sorted at homes. For instance, you might discover a variety of waste materials inside one waste bin, including plastic waste, paper waste, bottles, organic waste like uneaten food (rotten and odorous), liquid waste in bottles, sachets, and cans, chemical waste, drug and medicine waste, metals, and wood waste.

What about the trash that is carelessly dumped in the gutters, culverts, and by the sides of the roads? What about stray animals, dead pets, rodents, and human waste?

To assist us in sorting out our daily waste, these so-called sweepers put their hands inside the trash cans and gutters. They frequently do not even receive personal protective equipment, such as a facemask, mittens, or boots. They are exposed to bacteria and viruses that are carried by the vectors of squalor they are sent to fight. We continue to consider them to be a public nuisance. The governor drives past in his armoured cars while his sirens are on. He observes these helpless, diligent citizens and turns away.

Since the sweepers’ wages are so pitiful that the governor could afford to pay them without feeling the pinch, I do not see any reason for them to complain if there is even a drop of human kindness in these politicians. The Calabar women claimed they received monthly salaries ranging from N5000 to N10000, with 10% of that amount taken out by the government agents who hired them. The combined sweepers’ stipend is less than what governors spend on exotic wine and private jet travel.

There is still more irony. When the governor and all of his political allies travel to other nations, they observe how the providers of environmental services are regarded and treated with respect and humanity. They encounter them on the streets and in their hotels. In fact, they may have paid for their siblings to move abroad to work as sweepers and cleaners in hotels, hospitals, schools, public buildings, and transportation. They are well paid and well respected there. They even send their dependents money that they have earned by sweeping the streets. It’s a completely different story over here. So I question: Is the job not the same, or are sweepers blessed abroad but cursed in Nigeria?

Read Also: FG disconnects discos from the national grid, due to debt

The haughtiness of Ayade and his thugs is another sad aspect of the story. The protesting sweepers were summoned by the Calabar Urban Development Authority, who only paid them for one of the four months they were owed before warning them that the remaining balance would only be paid if they showed up for work “and impressed Governor Ayade.” Think about the audacity!

Who should be disciplined between Ayade and the sweepers, please? Instead of the other way around, the governor should be fired with a warning because she is at fault. The sweepers have completed their work and are not requesting payment in advance. Why then do you say that they must win over the governor? Already, they made an impression. The governor now has the opportunity to dazzle by paying them promptly.

The demystification of Calabar is the other issue in this situation. The once-model of environmental virtue, the city, was desecrated. Newspaper accounts of the incident state that security personnel, including police officers and members of the state security service, were seen at the Cross River Government House attempting to prevent bystanders and journalists from taking photos and recording videos of the trash dumped in front of the governor’s office. According to reports, the security guards were “apprehending” bystanders and wiping the images off of their cameras.

They were unfortunate because the news had already spread widely. You can’t cover pregnancy with two arms, the villager would say. The lumps are obvious to everyone. The Calabar refuse is therefore.

What the international media has to say about the city’s decline from grace to grass may be the most telling indicator of it. According to a recent Al Jazeera report, “In the middle of the 2000s, Calabar—once a slave port under British colonial rule—emerged as a tourist destination for both domestic and international travellers drawn to its lovely green scenery, rich culture, and proximity to the Atlantic Ocean. The city no longer has that allure today. Where once a lush line of trees stood, pockets of trash now litter the landscape. In some areas, trash left on the ground has given rise to a powerful breed of houseflies and scavengers. The gutters in the city are clogged with trash or thick with overgrown weed.

The descent into scum-filled dishonour has been swift. In 2007, The New Humanitarian, then a division of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, published a report that stated: “Of the many towns and cities on the African continent, Calabar must be one of the cleanest.” Sadly, the situation changed in less than ten years.

The government officials were attempting to conceal this infamy from the public. They did not want their ecological transgressions to be exposed by the media. But they fell short. What do they anticipate? that a news-hungry crowd would not share and retweet this “juicy” eco-sensation in the age of social media. No one can truly conceal the squalor. Will they be able to conceal the overflowing landfill at Lemna, Calabar’s main solid waste dumpsite, if they cover the dirt at the government building? This landfill has reached capacity and is spilling over because garbage collectors are also protesting unpaid wages.

Truth be told, mistreating sweepers is an unacceptable sin in a city like Calabar. It is akin to murdering the hen who produces the golden egg. The city’s environmental splendour is its greatest asset. Ecotourism now generates a profit. A Teflon-clean ecosystem where anything is possible was promoted as being present in Calabar. Obudu Ranch came next. Then came the carnival. The cable car came after. TINAPA went after. However, if the tourist building’s foundation is ignored, the entire castle will collapse. This is the reality that we are attempting to avoid.