AEPB, THE STATE OF FCT ENVIRONMENT: THE SITUATION THEN AND NOW
By Emeka Oraetoka
The recent report that the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory has mandated the management of the Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB), to ensure that the concessionaires brace up on the refuse collection, has shown that the AEPB, under the present leadership cannot offer the necessary environment cleanliness envisioned by the minister of the FCT. Two reasons could be responsible for this. In the first place, it is either that the revenue base of AEPB has plummeted to the point that it cannot pay the concessionaires, or that the concessionaires have taken the laws into their own hands by refusing to live up to their responsibility. Either of these positions is a function of failed leadership.
Since the redeployment of Hajia Hadiza, by the former minister of the Federal Capital Territory [FCT], Dr. Aliyu Moddibo, AEPB has been without a substantive Director/CEO - it has been functioning with an acting director, and this probably explains its lack luster performance in monitoring the concessionaires; hence, the sorry state of FCT environment, from the point of view of its cleanliness.
The transformation of the Abuja Environmental Protection Board [AEPB] into a vibrant environmental agency effectively started in 2005, when Hajia Hadiza was first appointed to take charge of the outfit. In her first outing, the challenges facing AEPB were enormous. Apart from indiscriminate refuse dump everywhere, the menance of street begging and the scourge of destitution, as well as street hawking were major trademark in the city. But before anyone could say Jack Robinson, the whole city was sanitized for good. Till she was deployed back to the ministry, street hawking in its entire ramification ceased, and became a thing of the past. Infact, FCT wore a good look. It could be recalled that apart from evacuating beggars and destitute from the street, they were rehabilitated in the period under review.
Gradually, the environmental make-up of the FCT experienced a down ward slide, at best, deteriorated when she left AEPB. That scourge she fought to submission in her first time out became constant feature in her absence. She was probably brought back to the same AEPB, on a redemption mission, when the authorities could not bear the environmental situation in the city, as it deteriorated further. Before her second outing however, she was seconded to take charge of Abuja Municipal Area council (AMAC), as sole administrator in 2007. That appointment was probably in recognition of her leadership qualities. Hadiza’s removal immediately she was re-appointed to lead AEPB for a second time, was linked to her principled stand on the finance of AEPB, arising from pressure from authorities in FCDA to part with AEPB’S money. She reportedly said that the money meant for the AEPB must not be used for political activities as it will affect the work of AEPB. Report has it that the authorities in FCT piled pressure on her to part with AEPB’s money for political purposes, to which she stoutly refused; the next move was her curious redeployment to FCDA.
Now that the new minister of the FCT Senator Muhammad Adamu Aliero has launched a new strategy code named, “Operation clean Abuja” in fulfillment of his pledge to Nigerians to drastically change the face of the Abuja environment, it is expected that the city will once again regain its clean status. The employment of five hundred [500] additional casual workers will go a long way in enhancing the operation of AEPB. What is most needed at point is a vibrant leadership in AEPB to complement the genuine efforts of Senator Aliero at repositioning Abuja . In a nutshell, the minister must look for competent hand to pilot the affair of AEPB, if he hopes to get things done. A situation where the AEPB is left headless cannot bring about the much needed environmental solution. For instance, how can the issue of evacuation of beggars occupy a central position in the itinerary of the minister, if the leadership of the AEPB is alive to its responsibility? This was not the case when Hajia Abdulahi Hadiza was there.
Emeka Oraetoka
Information Management Consultant & Political Researcher
Wrote in from Garki-Abuja
P.O. Box 18928
e-mail: oramekllis@lycos.com
