Thousands of street sweepers and waste collectors in Akwa Ibom, Nigeria, fear for their livelihoods and the state’s cleanliness after being abruptly terminated by the Environmental Protection and Waste Management Agency.
The Forum of Sub-contractors for Sweeping and Evacuation of Refuse, representing over 5,000 workers, sent an open letter to Governor Umo Eno pleading for intervention. They claim their dismissal has resulted in a significant drop in sanitation standards across Uyo, the state capital.
Previously, the sub-contractors, hired under the former administration, were responsible for maintaining cleanliness. They argue this system was efficient and provided vital income for many.
The letter accuses the Chairman of Akwa Ibom Environmental Protection and Waste Management Agency, Mr. Prince Ikim, of failing to properly replace the sacked workforce or provide adequate supervision. They believe the current situation is a deliberate act of sabotage driven by personal gain.
In the open letter, dated 20th March, 2024, and addressed to Governor Umo, and signed by Hanson Umoette (Acting Chairman), Bassey Eyo Obot (Secretary), Andino Etuk Asuquo (PRO), and Etebong Uboh (Welfare Officer), the association wrote: “Your Excellency, we are sub-contractors who handled the sweeping of streets and evacuation of refuse within Uyo, the state capital, and we were engaged by the state government during the administration of former Governor Udom Emmanuel. As sub-contractors, we were assigned different streets, and in order to deliver the services, we employed several poor Akwa Ibom people whom we either assigned to sweep or evacuate refuse.
“Your Excellency, apart from the fact that this arrangement was lucrative in the sense that it provided a legitimate source of income to the workers, it was also very efficient and effective in ensuring that the task of keeping the state capital clean was achieved and consistently too. By engaging the poorest of the poor in the job, we did not only assist the government in lifting many people off the beggars’ curve, but also ensured that those who were employed to sweep the streets or evacuate the refuse were working round the clock. This was a win-win for both the government and the people.
“Our dear governor, unfortunately, in the twilight of the last administration, the Chairman of Akwa Ibom Environmental Protection and Waste Management Agency, Mr Prince Ikim abruptly terminated our services and by extension, the services of over five thousand (5,000) poor people who were sweeping the streets on daily basis and those who were evacuating the refuse as at when due. More unfortunately, after many weeks of silence and keeping us in the limbo, the only explanation that Prince Ikim eventually gave as the reason for his action was that the new administration does not have money to continue in keeping the state clean.
“Your Excellency, until Prince Ikim’s ill-advised action, Akwa Ibom State was consistently being hailed as the most cleanest state in the South-South region with many national awards to that effect. It is therefore not a happenstance that in over one year, the state has failed to measure up in terms of cleanliness with others that were usually trailing us. No thanks to Prince Ikim’s unfortunate action, the level of cleanliness within the state capital has dropped drastically as many streets are frequently littered with dirts while refuse dumps are regularly overfilled, much to the bemoaning of citizens.
“Your Excellency, worried by the sad development, we undertook an independent investigation and made the following findings;
- i) That since terminating our services, Prince Ikim has not engaged any new sub-contractors who would have handled the job conscientiously knowing that they are accountable for it;
- ii) That Prince Ikim is now directly employing people to sweep the streets and evacuate refuse dumps but has been unable to give the people he employed the needed supervision and monitoring, hence, the current state of things;
iii) That Prince Ikim is currently engaging the number of people that is far below what is required to effectively handle the job, while still maintaining almost the same budget he was with a higher staff strength;
- iv) That the increasing spat of dirt within Uyo and it environs is a deliberate act of sabotage by the Chairman of Akwa Ibom Environmental Protection and Waste Management Agency;
- v) That Prince Ikim’s action was motivated by greed and is capable of not only damaging the image of the state and government, but also ruining the lives of many poor citizens whose only source of income came from sweeping the streets.
Our Prayers:
Your Excellency, in the light of the above, we wish to kindly make the following prayers;
- i) That you kindly intervene in the sanitation of the state by restructuring the mode of engaging people for sweeping and waste disposal.
- ii) That you further demonstrate your love for the poorest of the poor by reabsorbing those that were sacked by Prince Ikim.
iii) That you kindly consider the restructuring of the Environmental Protection and Waste Management Agency for transparency, accountability and optimal productivity.
“Our dear governor, we know you to be a listening leader and we have no doubt that you will hearken to our call.”
