24 Lakunle Street, lfako ljaye, Lagos. 15th May, 2003.
The Chairman
lfako Ijaiye
Local Government Authority.
Lagos.
Dear Sir,
THE UNHEALTHY ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITION OF MY LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA
I write to express my opinion on the dangerous state of our environment and the health hazard it constitutes. This dangerous state of our environment is quite appalling and disturbing. The environmental condition is growing worse everyday at an alarming rate. One of the health hazards the people of this Local Government are facing is the unhealthy state of the environment. The environment which includes our roads, drainage system and pollution and so on are now becoming eye sores. According to medical practitioners, an unhealthy environment such as ours brings about diseases such as typhoid fever. malaria, cholera etc. just to mention but a few. For example, our drainages are water-clogged and so they have become breeding ground for mosquitoes. Mosquitoes are agents of malaria fever and they spread this disease through mosquito bites. In fact, most of our health centers and clinics have dirty drainages right in front of them. How do we explain this? Our drainage facilities are not the only eyesores around us but also our roads. Most bus-stops are now reduced to dumping sites where refuse dumps and dirt are disposed of which makes our environment unsightly.
Also, there is this problem of air pollution. We all need air to survive. We breathe in air and breathe air out but what becomes our fate when the air we breathe in and out everyday is polluted. The polluted air comes from exhaust pipes of motor vehicles, especially vans and lorries, from factories, from dumping sites. Many people suffer from this hazard. Such polluted air may even cause cancer of the lungs and all other related diseases.
Moreover, the people of the local government are also faced with the problem of noise. There is noise everywhere on the streets, at motor parks, bus-stops etc. Noise has dominated every street and it is so much that one can hardly hear oneself speak. At every street, shops selling musical cassettes bring out four or more loud-speakers to blare out music. If this habit is not eradicated, over forty-five percent of our people would suffer from partial deafness.
However, I believe that whatever has a problem has a solution. Therefore, I would like to suggest the following solutions to the problems mentioned above. Firstly, there should be health managers who will be going about cleaning the drainages. Those who throw rubbish into our drainages or on the roads should be punished by paying fines or even by imprisonment so as to serve as a deterrent to others.
Moreso, motorists should be advised to take their vehicles for servicing regularly so as to reduce air pollution through vehicle exhaust pipes. Industries located within the local government area should also be inspected and corrected in this respect so as to keep our environment healthy.
In conclusion, I believe that if my points are well considered, we would make our environment a better place to live in.
Yours faithfully,
Signature Olukunle Ibikunle.