THE CLEAN AND GREEN PROJECT

     The clean and green project is a project in the city of Ilorin, the capital of Kwara state central Nigeria and was initiated by the Kwara state government. The main aim of the project is to keep homes, streets and major roads in the city clean, couple with the planting of flowers and trees along roads and various places across the city. The project was launched in 2003 to tackle the menace of dirt in Ilorin which was placed among the dirtiest cities in Nigeria. The clean and green project would later on become a model for government of other states to emulate.

     Under the clean and green project thousands of people were employed with jobs ranging from sweeping of streets and major roads every morning to taking care of flowers and trees planted across the city and so on. Also special types of large mobile waste disposal bins were provided at strategic locations in the city, in which wastes generated in those locations are dumped, before being carried away for proper disposal outside the city. Before then wastes were dumped in street corners and drainages for it to be carried away by rain amounting to huge environmental and health concerns. Also under this project, the last Saturday of every month was made an environmental sanitation day, in which movements are restricted between 7.00am to 9.00am in the morning as everybody is expected to be involved in one form of sanitation activity or another .

     The importance of this project cannot be over emphasized, as it has transformed Ilorin from an old dirty city with refuse hips on street corners to a cleaner city. It has also added beauty to the landscape of the city as a result of the flowers and trees planted, which at the same time is helping to reduce the amount of Co₂ in the atmosphere by being absorbed by these plants. It has also served as a source of employment and income for thousands of people working under the project, directly reducing poverty in the society. Most importantly the project has placed Ilorin city as one of the cleanest cities in Nigeria.

     I will like to identify the clean and green project of the kwara state government, as a project that is worthy of being emulated, by other state governments or even the local governments, as it has helped in creating a clean and healthy environment. The project with its various advantages was a very expensive project to undertake coupled with the challenges of planning and management but not withstanding it is a great achievement.