…as NYSC embarks on sanitation exercise in Anambra

By Okechukwu Onuegbu
Awka

The Traditional Ruler of Neni, Anaocha Local Government Area, Anambra State, HRH Igwe Damian Ezeani, Saturday, appealed to government to empower the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) to embark on nationwide sensitisation campaign on environmental and personal hygiene.

Ezeani, who made the appeal at Neni, when the state NYSC officials and corps members conducted a sanitation exercise in the community, observed that continuous sensitisation of the masses would help to achieve cleaner environment and health among the populace.

According to him, “If people are well educated on this, they would surely imbibe the habit of keeping their environments and selves clean. You won’t have to remind them before they embark on it. They won’t have to wait for any special day to do that. It will be a routine exercise as long as they are alive or eat.”

Also speaking, the Transition Committee Chairman, Anaocha Local Government Area, Mr Patrick Onyedum, represented by Mr. Benson Igwemadu, a councillor representing Neni Ward I, commended the NYSC for carrying out the exercise in the council area, assuring that they would keep promoting sanitation among the populace.

Earlier, the Director General, NYSC, Brig. Gen. Shuiabu Ibrahim, who flagged the exercise, identified environmental sanitation as one of the requirements for prevention of diseases and their escalation to epidemic level.

Ibrahim, represented by the State Coordinator, NYSC, Mrs Yetunde Baderinwa, took the corps members and other officials of the scheme on sanitation exercise at Oye Neni, Neni Town hall and other places, and called for efforts to be stepped up to enlighten the public especially rural dwellers on health risks of poor hygiene with a focus on prevention of contamination of food, water and the entire environment.

“The theme of this programme is clean environment/good hygiene: panacea for good health and long life…it may interest you to know that during the nationwide medical outreaches recently conducted on the platform of the NYSC Health Initiative for Rural Dwellers (HIRD), most of the ailments diagnosed and treated were as a result of poor hygiene. They include chronic diarrhea, dental caries (tooth decay) head/body lice, ringworm, dysentery, typhoid, polio, scabies trachoma, Hepatitis A and malaria, amongst others,” he stated.

Speaking in an interview, a corps member who participated on the environmental sanitation exercise, Miss Dorcas Abode, said she would take the sensitisation campaign even after her service year, while a trader, Mrs Amaka Okoye, adviced government to provide rural communities and markets with waste bin and refuse sites.