On December 6, 2017, Ibadan (Oyo State, South-West Nigeria) hosted a stakeholders’ forum (inception report workshop) on Solid Waste Management Master Plan for Ibadan Metropolis under the Ibadan Urban Flood Management Project (IUFMP), a World Bank-sponsored project. The Ibadan Business School played host to the workshop.
History of Flooding in Ibadan City
Ibadan, Oluyole, the city of the brave had long been at the mercy of perennial flooding. In the years 1955, 1960, 1961, 1963, 1969, 1978 and 1980, Ibadan was dealt deadly blows to the jugular As recent as 2011, heavy floods wreaked havoc across Ibadan, leading to wanton loss of properties and lives. Apete, Moniya, Bodija, and Odo-Ona, Agbowo and other worst-hit areas have yet to fully recover from the disaster. No one wants a repeat of that. Ibadan citizens had had enough, no more was the song on every lip.
Some of the most important reasons implicated in the flood problems in Ibadan are indiscriminate waste management, blocked drained, lack of adequate, well-constructed, poor urban planning. One thing instantly becomes clear: “No more floods” means better urban planning; “no more floods” means no more dirt; “no more floods” means better quality of life!
Flooding might be a continental, intercontinental and global problem, still, each city and country must put in place, systems to curtail its effects and protect its people.
In response, the Oyo State Government, under the leadership of Senator Abiola Ajimobi, persistently sought the support of the World Bank for funding for sustainable models to put a finite end to the reoccurring decimal of destructive floods in Ibadan. In due course, a much needed collaboration for the Ibadan Urban Flood Management Project (IUFMP) was, thus, born. The Solid Waste Management Master Plan for Ibadan Metropolis is an integral part of the Ibadan Urban Flood Management Project (IUFMP).
Programme of event (agenda) at the inception report workshop on Solid Waste Management Master Plan for Ibadan Metropolis
A cross section of participants at the workshop (Image credit: wastesmart.org)
For over three years, plans have been underway at fashioning out sustainable models to close the chapter on incessant flood. Things had appeared to have been on a slow pace, but finally, it does appear, the project is back on track.
The link between flooding and waste management
It is an established fact that poor waste management practices contribute to flooding. When wastes are indiscriminately dumped in the environment (e.g. on streets) as is often seen around; these wastes end up in drains during downpours. As more drains are clogged and blocked, natural/man-made watercourses are clogged and disrupted, leading to back-flows which then inevitably causes flooding as heaps of storm water try to find new paths.
To be a smart city, sustainable waste management and other features that improve the quality if life must institutionalised.
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Three basic parts of the Ibadan Urban Flood Management Project (IUFMP)
The IUFMP, a World Bank-sponsored project to find lasting solution to flood/waste management problem in Ibadan has three distinctive parts, or if you like, three sub-projects:
- Ibadan City Master Plan
An exhaustive process is underway towards producing a comprehensive Master Plan for Ibadan City (Ibadan City Plan). Up until this process started, Ibadan was one of the many cities in Nigeria without a master urban plan. The process is expected to be completed in December, 2017.
Representative of the Oyo State Government and Coordinator of the IUFMP, Mr. Ayorinde giving his welcome address (Image credit: wastesmart.org)
- Drainage Master Plan for Ibadan Metropolis
An integrated Drainage Master Plan for Ibadan Metropolis (which would lay the foundation and set reasonable standards for the construction and management of well-panned and tightly coordinated drainage systems across Ibadan) is also underway and expected to take six (6) months.
- Solid Waste Management Master Plan for Ibadan Metropolis
This plan, which is also underway, is expected to take eighteen (18) months. Like earlier stated above, this plan had suffered some setbacks in the past, but thankfully, is back on track with last week’s Stakeholders’ Forum (Inception Report Workshop).
Stakeholders’ forum on the Solid Waste Management Master Plan for Ibadan Metropolis
The program was attended by a wide variety of stakeholders including officials of the Oyo State Government, the foreign contractors for the project (FICHTNER, a German company), local partners for the project (ETTE Aro & Partners), academia, representatives from various markets groups, professionals, waste contractors, scrap buyers, waste pickers (informal waste sector), youth corps members (NYSC), sanitation workers, and students.
The program started at 10:20am and was anchoured by the evergreen Dr. Louisa Andal, a lecturer at the Department of Communication and Language Arts, University of Ibadan.
Dr. L. Andal anchoring the workshop (Image credit: wastesmart.org)
Speeches were made by the Coordinator of the IUFMP, Mr. Ayorinde and the Head of the FICHTNER team for the project, Mr. Stefan. Technical presentations on various aspects (including social/environmental, communications, regulatory/institutional/private sector participation, and financial investment/economic aspects) of the project were also made by officials of FICHTNER and its legal representative (Barrister Kehinde).
It was eye-opening to have been invited to participate in the deliberations.
Head of the Team from FICHTNER, the foreign technical partners for the Master Plan, giving his speech (Image credit: wastesmart.org)
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Four deliverables of the Solid Waste Management Master Plan for Ibadan Metropolis
The objective of the Solid Waste Management Master Plan for Ibadan Metropolis is to develop an integrated solid waste management waste which takes dirt away from Ibadan streets.
Under this project, emphasis is being placed on getting solution from within Ibadan, hence, last week’s workshop to get feedback from stakeholders on the field.
The Master Plan is further broken down into four parts:
- Understanding the current status of waste management systems in Ibadan, and producing a status quo report:
A comprehensive SWOT analysis will unearth the true state of things in the sector.
- Strategic evaluation of status, development of options to address the observations made to strengthen waste management in Ibadan:
From the observations made during the detailed fact-finding investigations, various recommendations, with emphasis on international best practices, specific and adapted to prevailing conditions in Ibadan, would then be made.
Participants get ready for commencement of the workshop (Image credit: wastesmart.org)
- Diagnostic workshop and report:
Stakeholders would then be recalled for another forum where further considerations of the options would be made and the best options would be adopted for implementation across Ibadan. Thereafter, the Solid Waste Management Master Plan for Ibadan Metropolis would be produced.
This workshop is proposed for the first quarter of 2018.
- Implementation of Master Plan and continuing capacity building and training:
Full implementation of the recommendations in the Solid Waste Management Master Plan for Ibadan Metropolis will be aggressively undertaken with priority on capacity building and training of personnel with clear-cut responsibility in the various sections of the Plan.
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Feedback from stakeholders
Various problems, observations and contributions were taken from the stakeholders including:
- The role of waste pickers (informal waste sector), recycling outfits and organizations involved in waste management in Ibadan will be exhaustively x-rayed. In fact, a comprehensive list of these bodies is favoured to be undertaken.
- The Solid Waste Management Master Plan for Ibadan Metropolis should not only address management of wastes to be generated in future by Ibadan residents but also how to manage existing/previously generated wastes (which have so far been responsible for flooding in Ibadan).
- The term “Sustainable” should be included in the project name to give Sustainable Solid Waste Management Master Plan for Ibadan Metropolis.
- Emphasis should also be placed on rural areas and areas almost inaccessible by waste management trucks.
- There is a need to encourage Nigerians to buy recycled products, e.g., farmers should be encouraged to buy compost made from organic portions of municipal wastes. Big corporations like ICT companies Dell and others, FMCG companies CocaCola etc. must not only recycle their wastes, but as obtains in other countries, they must be compelled by law to utilize recycled products. The larger the demand and market for recycled products, the higher the motivation for recycling and sustainable waste management practices by residents.
- More waste receptacles (giant waste bins) should be provided and placed at strategic locations within various neighbourhoods within Ibadan.
- Entrepreneurship and innovations in the waste/environmental sector should be encouraged. Our community initiative, wastesmart.org, is posed to continue to play pivotal roles towards ensuring that the waste problem in Ibadan (and indeed Nigeria) is solved.We really do hope that Master Plan would be colpmeted in good time and implemented.
- To ensure sustainability and reduce unnecessary political interference, while government establishes and oversees policies and regulatory frameworks, the private sector (not government) should be the engine that drives project and the master plan.
Participants network at the end of the workshop (Image credit: wastesmart.org)
Closing remarks/Vote of Thanks
Mrs. Funmi Adesina, an Environmental Safeguard Specialist with the IUFMP thanked the participants on behalf of the IUFMP and the Oyo State Government.
The forum ended at about 1:30pm.
– Written by Idowu KUNLERE
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