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NWP Global Registry of Apprentice Ecologists - Rafin-Senyin, Dutse, Jigawa State, Nigeria.

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Rafin-Senyin, Dutse, Jigawa State, Nigeria.
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Glorious Child



Registered: November 2011
City/Town/Province: Ojodu
Posts: 1
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INTRODUCTION


I am Taofik Abidemi Sanni, with a first degree in English Language and Literary Studies from the first University of Education in Nigeria – Tai Solarin University of Education, Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State, southwest Nigeria – my region, state and country of origin. I am a member of the Millennium Development Goals Community Development Service Group in Jigawa State, northern Nigeria. I am a lover of nature so would do whatever it requires to make it livable.
The environment is man’s life support system. It consists of air, water, land animals, plants and human beings which underlies the need for proper waste handling and continuous check on environmental unsound activities. This necessitated my action towards ensuring environmental sustainability in a community called Rafin-Senyin, out of the 30 identified locations in Dutse, Jigawa State capital.
Rafin-Senyin is one of the communities in Dutse that hosts the largest number of guest houses, hence accommodates a good number of mixed populations. This same Rafin-Senyin is the Galadima of Dutse’s resident community.
Despite the enviable description, I hardly found a street without a poor waste management system. If there were drums, they were overflowing with both organic and inorganic substances and bio-and non-bio degradable substances, forming heaps of waste which is hazardous to their health.





An endemic problem of Rafin-Senyin is insufficient waste bin and lack of conscious environmental or waste management awareness.
I chose Rafin-Senyin as my Community Development Service (CDS) project location for environmental sanitation being one of the most visited communities in Dutse to reduce the risk and impact of environmental hazards on human health, most especially of the vulnerable children which invariably shall save the community, state and nation at large hundreds of thousand of naira on promoting good health and protection from diseases and maintain the environmental integrity.


ACTIVITIES
Sensitization Excises
Before I commenced the sanitation, I visited the Hakimi of the community, intimated him on the project. He then assigned the Maiungwa – village head – of that village to attend to any of our question and needs pertaining participation. On the 1st of July 2011, I did a house to house sensitization. I met some groups of women while they were dressing their hair, doing some other chores among other things.





I mentioned that a positive attitude towards environmental sanitation and proper waste management will save them a huge sum of money which would have been spent on hospital bills. This also will forestall the outbreaks of diseases like cholera and fever caused by mosquito bites. These women and few men showed their appreciation for the awareness by their promise to participate in the exercise having being informed of the attendant hazards dirty environment could cause. I also taught them on the proper use of waste bins to avoid careless dumping of refuse on an open ground.





The same day 1st of July, 2011, I had a radio programme with some of my colleagues on ensuring environmental sustainability where I sensitized the residents of Jigawa State (through the radio programme, live on air) on the following:
Environmental sustainability – which is simply an endeavor to make the entire environment livable, conducive and hazard-free for the people. It is also the process whereby human exploitation of natural resources and the system of achieving development do not hinder the potential of meeting the future generation needs. I also explained what sustainable development means in this light. I also mentioned and briefly explained the methods of achieving sustainable development which include
- Effective waste management
- Afforestation
- Pollution control
- Conservation of natural resources
- Proper Environmental Management Plan (EMP)
Environmental problems and their effects
- Pollution (water, air, land)
- Poor erosion control
- Attitude
Solution – I stressed that the above are methods for achieving sustainable development and the immediate solution to environmental problems.





Environmental Sanitation
I arrived at the project scene with a rake and shovel to create a sense of responsibility and work by example in the mind of the beneficiary community. The sanitation started at 8:30am on the 8th of July, 2011 at the front of the village head’s house and extends into other parts of the community. The following were done during the sanitation exercise-
• Excavation of rubbish and sand from the gutter.





• Cleaning of wrongly sited refuse dump.



• Clearing of nylons from stagnant water from the improvised drainage. Also created a channel for stagnant water to tame the high rate of mosquito multiplicity.
• Cleaning of surroundings and gathering of refuse at a point where refuse were overflowing.
Owing to low level participation of the residents in the exercise, I was advised by the village head and a security agent to add the Saturday 9th to the scheduled date 8th July, 2011 to ensure a more encouraging participation of the residents. But in all those two days of sanitation, only five people joined. The major challenge was low participation and co-operation from the community members in the exercise. This is majorly caused by the negative attitude of the community residents towards environmental sanitation and their overdependence on government intervention. Another major challenge is the insufficient working tools like rakes, cutlasses, shovels and waste bins.


RECOMMENDATION


The following points highlight my recommendation to the individual resident in Jigawa State and the government of Jigawa State.
• There should be a consistently continuous sensitization programs on environmental waste management and protection by the government through Jigawa State Environmental Protection Agency (JISEPA).
• Provision of sufficient waste bins and tanks located in strategic points accessible to every house.
• There should be a constant check on the drums and waste tanks to prevent overflowing.
• Recruitment and placement of committed environmentalists to ensure continuity and sustainability of my project and the environmental health of the community.
• The state government should fund Dutse Capital Development Authority – (DCDA) to institute a good network of drainage systems.
• Environmental health is ensured not only by the government and its agencies but also through every individual resident, thus, there should be an expression of good attitude towards environmental waste management as the otherwise has a chain of negative effect on our health and other aspect of our lives.


CONCLUSION


Having gotten an idea of the environmental situation of Rafin–Senyin, I have planned to make this project a continuous one that will attend to dirty locations one after the other, involving the body empowered by authority to ensure environmental protection of the area.
On a personal note, embarking on this project has made me literate in the area of environment/waste management which has led to my enrollment in Health, Safety and Environment course (HSE) with Joint Professional Training and Support (JPTS).
I can now contribute meaningfully in both theory and practice to environmental issues even with my additional professional skills in HSE.
· Date: November 18, 2011 · Views: 5633 · File size: 19.6kb, 249.5kb · : 939 x 701 ·
Hours Volunteered: 10
Volunteers: 5
Authors Age & Age Range of Volunteers: 25 & 25 to 40
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