When drains become dumps: Bayelsa park battles filth, apathy

By Samuel Oyadongha

YENAGOA—The drains around Ekeki Motor Park in the heart of Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital, were built to carry water. Today, they carry shame.

Plastic bottles, sachet water wrappers, rotting food, dead rats, all festers in dark, sluggish channels that food stalls, POS kiosks, and the feet of thousands who pass through one of Yenagoa’s busiest transit hub every day.

Last Wednesday, Alagoa Morris, Technical Adviser to the Bayelsa Governor on Environment, stood at the edge of one drain. He held up his phone. Two photos, years apart and both showed the same thing: filth. 

He noted with regret: “It was not like this before. We elevated this place. Today, we have to ask: what happened?”

What happened is simple. Some park users turned the drains into dumps. And everyone else learned to live with it.

My customers hold their noses

Irene sells sachet water and biscuits by the roadside. She opens her shop at 7:00am. “The first thing that hits me is the stench,” she said. “My customers hold their noses. Some stopped coming. They tell me, ‘Mama, this place is like a toilet,’ ” she lamented. 

Across the park, POS operator, John Alade said: “Last Tuesday, a passenger vomited from the stench. He had not even boarded a vehicle. The driver cursed us. But we are not the ones dumping refuse and dead animals at night.”

The governor cannot be everywhere

Morris did not come alone. With him were journalists, civil society members, and ECARD, an environmental advocacy group. His message was blunt.  

“The governor drives through here. He sees when things go bad. But some people don’t tell him what’s on the ground. They go to him for personal favours, not for what benefits everybody.”

“That is why we are here,” he said. “When travellers enter Bayelsa, this park is the first thing they see. If they go back and talk about cleanliness, will they say good things? No.”

He scrolled to another photo. A drainage channel near the flyover on Isaac Boro expressway, clear of waste.  

“You see only water. No plastic. No refuse. That is what we need.”

Scarce resources

Park managers admit the problem. The Secretary, Ipamuowei Profit Sadimuka said plainly: “Where there is no cleanliness, you cannot stay. You will be prone to sickness.”

But solutions cost money they don’t have.  He said: “Last year, we tried. There was a dustbin, but leadership changed and it became a problem. We tried raising money ourselves to evacuate waste. Someone quoted N500,000. Even that, we don’t have.”

Informal labourers clear the drains but days later, they clog again. We need help,” Sadimuka said. 

“If government provides waste equipment, we’ll do the work. By God’s grace, we will clean the drains this month,” he assured.

In his remarks, a committee member, Chief Joseph Abia  explained that they resumed three weeks ago.  

“We are talking about daily cleanliness, not periodic,” he said. “Today dirty, tomorrow clean, that means you are not clean. If we are clean, our creator will be happy.”

Flash floods can still happen

ECARD Programme Manager, Yibatoro-Iyela James warned:  “Blocked drains don’t just cause disease. They cause flash floods. With the rains coming, water has nowhere to go. This park can flood in minutes.”

He praised Morris for “bringing everyone to the table” and pledged ECARD’s support.

When you see the environment, you see God

Morris framed the situation as a moral test saying:  “Development is continuous. Government has done a lot. Look at Etegwe-Edepie roundabout. Security improved with markets moved from roadsides. But this park remains a problem.”

He recalled seeing sanitation workers in coveralls abroad, tending to communities where residents acted responsibly.  “I ask myself: why can’t our people do the same? We go to university. We are not going to do nothing. But here, we don’t talk to each other honestly.

“That is why I’m here today. This is for the collective good.”

His final plea was to conscience.  “We need to change our attitude. Otherwise, visitors will leave and we will remain here with our waste.” He glanced at the drain one last time. “When you see the environment, you see God,” he said.

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