I do not write this as a mockery, because that’s one of the trending topics on social media at the moment.
Although I see that his duties share coterminous boundaries with Mr. Tunji Bello’s and Mr. Kabiru Ahmed Abdullahi’s, who are Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, and Special Adviser on Urban Development respectively.
Anyone familiar with Lagos will see that blocked drainages and the fact that Lagos is painfully bereft of drainages at the right places constitute a major environmental challenge. I am particularly concerned about the implication of those challenges for sanitation and health, especially open defecation, contents that eventually get into the blocked drainages and on to the roads.
At the moment, only 13 Local Government Areas out of 774 in Nigeria are free of open defecation – 6, 4 and 3 in Cross River, Jigawa and Borno States respectively. None in Lagos. So, all the LGAs in Lagos, including places the so-called rich people live are marked by open defecation. There’s also the intractable issue of flooding. As a friend had observed in a private chat, “Imagine if all the drains and gutters in Lagos today become clean and cleared, he (Igbokwe) will always be remembered as the man that cleared our open gutters and make Lagos free of flood and threatening sewage”.
I know it is inappropriate to get defecated materials emptied into the canals, rivers, the Lagoon and then the ocean, but let’s start by having drainages at appropriate places and get them to function well. Even that have great implications for the duties of Messrs Bello, Abdullahi and Prof. Emeritus Akin Abayomi, the new Commissioner for Health.
So, seriously, I believe Mr. Joe Igbokwe actually got a big job to do as Special Adviser on Drainage and Water Resources. Also, I believe Governor Sanwo-Olu has expressed trust and confidence in Mr. Igbokwe by this appointment.
By Omoniyi Ibietan