Association of Waste Managers of Nigeria, Oyo State chapter, has blamed the current waste management challenges in the state on the policy of late Governor Abiola Ajimobi.

The Chairman, AWAM, Oyo chapter, Temitope Jayeola, and a leader of the association, Babatunde Mosuro, said this in a statement issued on Sunday, following an extraordinary meeting of the association held in Ibadan.

According to Jayeola, many residents of Ibadan now take their wastes to the road median because the past administration had asked them to do so, adding that it has become difficult to stop residents from the practice.

He stated that the policy in place before the pronouncement was that each house was expected to put a waste disposal bin in front of their building.

Private waste service providers would then go periodically to collect the waste at a token that was absolutely affordable.

He said this arrangement was later stopped and despite the fact that current House of Assembly had passed a law mandating each house to have waste disposal bin, many residents were still taking their refuse to the road media.

The statement read, “If not for the pronouncement by the then government under late Governor Abiola Ajimobi, of blessed memory, that people should bring their dirt to the median of the roads for waste trucks and compactors to pick up at no cost to them, there would not have been any crisis or challenges that we are dealing with today.

“This is because the people following such pronouncement by the last administration already concluded that it is not their job to pay for waste collection. As a result, they have been taking their waste to the median, littering the roads in the process.”

“You know how difficult it is for our people are when it comes to conforming to policies and laws especially the ones that require some level of commitment from them.

“So, these are the problems we are battling with and this is one of the main reasons we are appealing to politicians to help waste managers do their job well.”

The AWAM chairman alleged that the late Ajimobi administration crippled the association’s operations by introducing a consultant who was concerned about generating revenue and making money at the expense of environmental health and sustainability of the already recorded success.

However, he said the administration of Governor Seyi Makinde was determined to do everything possible to ensure that Ibadan and other towns and villages in the state become very clean.