By Rita Chikwe, Omalicha 91.1 FM
When bins are missing and drainage is absent, the roadside becomes the easiest place to leave rubbish. Distance, time pressure and cost push people toward roadside refuse dumping and during the rains, that waste turns roads into unimaginable mess and breeding grounds.
Azaraegbelu, a vibrant, predominantly agrarian community located in Emekuku, in the Owerri North Local Government Area of Imo State, is close to the state capital, but farther than many from basic infrastructure. Here, roads collect dumped plastics and food waste, and there is no drainage to channel storm water away. But the community is not relenting; it is fighting back, not only for cleaner streets but for a healthier, more climate resilient future.
For the community, distance, time and cost push many to choose convenience over proper disposal. Without waste bins and drainage, dumped waste linger and become health and environmental hazards.
Recognising that repeated dumping and flooding threaten everyone’s safety, the youth and community leaders stepped in with self help. They began a monthly sanitation exercise of clearing roads, collecting waste and creating a temporary central disposal spot as a stopgap.
The youth leader of Azaraegbelu community, Chibuzor Opara, disclosed that the cleanup exercise has been done frequently every month-end, and they ensure that a memo is circulated notifying community members of the environmental exercise.
According to Opara: “we’ve tried to reach the Eastern Waste Management Company (EWAMAC), the official environmental and waste management agency in the State, The last time I spoke with their director, it wasn’t productive. It’s been almost a year since my last visit to their office, and not giving up, and we’ll push our luck again.
To demonstrate their seriousness, the youth leader said “we even offered to pay for a dustbin, but we never got an answer. They told us they would speak with our local government chairman and that there might be a project, though I can’t recall the details. I called our councillor to ask if there’s any programme between the local government and EWAMAC. He said no — he didn’t know of any. I told him to follow up and to remember that we were the first to ask for a dustbin. He said, ‘No problem, ..there’s still been no reply”.
The group is not relenting, despite the setbacks. “We really need that waste bin”, said Opara. We’ve identified a spot opposite the current dump, near the school field and close to the farmland. This time, we don’t want the area to be littered. We put together a task force and organised seminars to teach people in the community how to dispose of refuse — putting waste in bags, separating bio-degradable from non bio-degradable. Those were steps we took last year. Once we get the dustbin, we plan a larger seminar for the whole village — men and women — to give proper orientation and kick-start the campaign".
Before that would happen, Opara said “the indiscriminate dumping, is taking a toll people and businesses in the area, who complain regularly about the inconvenience and environmental degradation of the area. We’re in a bind: he says. If we close the central disposal site, members of our kindred will struggle because the road to the farmlands would become inaccessible. We imposed heavy penalties for people dumping refuse in the kindred, and that’s why this central spot became the main dumping ground. If we shut it down now, those areas become inaccessibly. “We’re still hopeful the government will help), said the youth leader optimistically. “We wrote to the Commissioner for Environment; he accepted the request and approved dustbins. When I submitted the approval to their office, they said no dustbins had been prepared yet. They’re looking to get more, so we wait.”
Opara said the group had tried to use payloaders and truck owners to evacuate the rubbish,, but they were quoting the sum of ₦700,000 — an amount too high for members of the community to pay.
As frustration grows, then steps in the President General of Azaraegbelu community, Solomon Oluharaotu, to lead the effort more directly.
According to Oluharaotu, “the sanitation work has largely been handled by the youth, but I’m not satisfied with how things are going; so I’ve taken over the matter. If you look now, the entrance by the field near the school site is in a rough state. We’re on it: the rubbish there will be evacuated by mid next week, and we’ll take appropriate measures to control the site so that this nonsense never repeats itself.
Continuing, Oluharaotu disclosed that the union has asked for proposals from experts to manage the cleanup and the site properly. Once we agree a location for a bin and a system for emptying it, we’ll task people to follow it up. We’re not just talking about small waste buckets; we want larger containers that can be collected when full — placed where they’ll actually be used, like opposite the dump near the field.
The Town Union President General also told our correspondent that “we’ve been trying to reach EWAMAC, but I don’t have a direct contact. If we can get a direct line to them and work with the agency and the local government, we can agree a plan and move forward. That’s what we’re pushing for.”
While the union looks for assistance from EWAMAC, Oluharaotu disclosed that the challenge is man-made and is something they can control. He added that they have plans for waste bags which they will share to the community members, especially the traders. The community, he said, needs drainage and bins, and if they can reach out to EWAMAC, it will enable them to work together for a cleaner Azaraegbelu.
Omalicha 91.1 FM Owerri—a development-focused radio station based in the Azaraegbelu community—played a key role by contacting EWAMAC’s Board Member in charge of Operations, Mr. Gogo Nnamdi Okwosa. During interaction. with him, Okwosa disclosed that the state government had recently reshuffled the leadership in the environmental sector. He explained that the community had been interacting with the then Imo State Waste Management Agency (ISWAMA), which the state government disbanded due to its inefficiency in tackling waste. The new agency, EWAMAC, was recently inaugurated and has now taken up the responsibility to keep the state clean.
That decision turned local frustration into renewed hope, with the promise of an official inspection and waste evacuation.
To move the promise forward, the community now faces the next question: how to make these efforts lasting, not just temporary.
Rainwater has nowhere to go. It pools with dumped waste to block access, leading to local flooding, and turning to breeding grounds for disease. Rotting organic waste emit methane gas; burning refuse produces smoke and dangerous particulates. A missing bin and absent drainage are therefore public health and climate issues.
The EWAMAC Official made the community a promise: “We will visit Azaraegbelu to assess the dump, evacuate it, and work with the local government. We plan to distribute bags that residents can buy and use to sort their waste. We are also rolling out sensitization on refuse separation across all 27 local government areas in Imo State.”
Azaraegbelu is already doing much of the work: monthly cleanups, composting food waste, and collecting plastics for sale. With EWAMAC’s visit and the guidance already offered by emergency agencies, those local efforts can become durable if coupled with cleared drains, reliable collection and community commitment to change.”
Azaraegbelu’s story is both a warning and a lesson. Neglected waste and blocked drains turn routine rains into destructive floods, harm health with disease and smoke, and add to climate risks. For the community, hope arrives through sustained steps — bins in place, drains cleared, waste evacuated, a community that keeps working until the streets stay clean for good, sustained by the voice of a station committed to community development and growth.
