A capital city is choking while those paid to protect it appear to be looking elsewhere
There is something rotten in Akure.
And, unfortunately, it is not only the smell.
I recently watched a video by a woman who made what appeared to be a straightforward, non-partisan appeal to Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa. She has had some political association with the Governor, which makes her intervention even more difficult to dismiss as the usual opposition noise.
Her message was simple:
Akure is becoming unbearable.
The state capital that was once proudly spoken of as one of Nigeria’s cleanest cities—particularly during the administrations of Dr. Olusegun Agagu and Dr. Olusegun Mimiko—is today confronting an environmental embarrassment that should make every responsible government sit up.
Instead, one wonders whether those whose statutory responsibility it is to keep the city clean have simply gone to sleep.
Or worse, whether they have concluded that the people will eventually get used to the smell.
From the Airport Road corridor towards Oke Eda, there are complaints about offensive odours and fumes that deserve immediate investigation.
And let us be clear:
Nobody should be guessing about what citizens are breathing.
If there is an industrial operation involved, investigate it.
If there is chemical contamination, establish it scientifically.
If waste is being improperly disposed of, identify those responsible.
If no company is responsible, then tell the public what is responsible.
But for heaven’s sake, do something!
A government does not need an opposition party to tell it that its citizens deserve clean air.
This is where the Aiyedatiwa administration needs to be reminded of a very basic principle of governance:
Not every complaint is political.
Not every criticism is an attack.
Not every suggestion is sponsored by an enemy.
And not every person who points at a problem is secretly campaigning for somebody else.
Sometimes, a bad smell is simply a bad smell.
And sometimes, behind that bad smell may be a serious public-health question.
The danger of politicising everything is that government eventually becomes deaf to useful criticism.
Today, somebody complains about sanitation and government sees politics.
Tomorrow, somebody complains about flooding and government sees politics.
Another person complains about environmental pollution and government sees politics.
Someone raises concerns about infrastructure and government sees politics.
Before long, the administration is no longer governing problems.
It is governing perceptions.
That is how cities deteriorate.
Akure does not need propaganda about development.
Akure needs its environmental agencies to get off their desks.
Let them visit the affected locations.
Let them conduct proper environmental and air-quality assessments.
Let them identify the source of the odour.
Let relevant companies and facilities be inspected.
Let the results be made public.
And if anybody is found to be violating environmental laws, prosecute the person or shut down the offending operation—irrespective of whose political godfather is behind it.
That is governance.
Anything less is theatre.
There is also a painful irony here.
We have politicians talking about the future of Ondo State, positioning themselves for 2027, measuring political strengths, counting delegates, calculating alliances and preparing succession strategies.
Fine.
But while everybody is calculating who will occupy the Government House next, who is calculating what the people of Akure are breathing today?
The succession battle can wait.
The stench cannot.
Governor Aiyedatiwa is presently the Governor.
That means the environmental buck stops, ultimately, at his desk.
He cannot be held responsible for every bad smell in Akure—but he can certainly be held responsible for whether the government investigates credible complaints about environmental pollution.
That distinction matters.
And perhaps the Governor’s Sunday appearances at the Government House Chapel make the matter even more interesting.
Faith is good.
Prayer is good.
Pastoral exhortation is good.
But government also requires something wonderfully simple:
Work.
You cannot pray over a stinking city and then leave the people to breathe the answer.
Even the best sermon cannot substitute for an environmental inspection.
Even the loudest political rally cannot clean a drainage channel.
Even the most beautiful government photograph cannot purify polluted air.
Governance is not choreography.
It is responsibility.
So, Governor, here is a free piece of advice from someone who does not need an appointment to offer it:
Don’t ask first, “Who is behind this complaint?”
Ask:
“Is the complaint true?”
If it is false, expose it.
If it is political, say so.
But if it is true, fix it.
That is what leadership means.
Akure once had a reputation for cleanliness.
It should not inherit a reputation for neglect.
And the departments charged with sanitation and environmental protection cannot continue hiding behind bureaucratic silence while citizens complain about what they smell and breathe.
The people deserve answers.
Not excuses.
Not political interpretation.
Not another committee that will submit another report that will gather dust in another government office.
Answers.
There is an old political instinct that says when an uncomfortable issue emerges, attack the messenger.
That instinct must end.
The messenger is not the issue.
The smell is.
The citizens are.
Their health is.
Akure is.
And if the administration genuinely believes there is no environmental danger, then it has an even easier assignment:
Prove it.
Test the air.
Inspect the facilities.
Publish the findings.
Let science settle the argument.
Because in the end, politics will come and go.
Governors will come and go.
Political godfathers will come and go.
Succession battles will come and go.
But the lungs of Akure’s citizens will remain with them.
A government that cannot hear its citizens’ complaints is already in trouble.
A government that can hear them but chooses to politicise them is in deeper trouble.
But a government that can smell the problem and still does nothing has a much bigger problem than the smell itself.
Akure is not asking for a miracle.
Akure is asking to breathe.
And that, surely, should not be too much to ask from government.
Obanoyen sent this piece from Atlanta, Georgia, USA and can be reached on : [email protected]