Abstract
It is incontestable that Ibadan presents a despicable environmental picture. In fact, Francis, Egbhokare's revised Standard version of Professor J.P Clark's Ibadan: 'Ibadan/oozing blob of rot and mold squashed and splattered among human wastes/ like Bodija market in the rain' vividly captured the filthy nature of 21st century Ibadan. Indeed, like most of the Nigeria urban areas, there is little evidence of any realistic physical planning. Visits to major streets and residential areas especially the core city centers show a prevalence of uncontrolled heap of refuse in open spaces and all pervasive repulsive odour of open sewers. There is also infrastructural decay: deplorable roads, pitifully inadequate water supply, erratic electricity supply and acute shelter shortage. The picture is generally that of urban disarray. At the heart of problem is the ubiquitousness of non-industrial and industrial pollutants. Individual and corporate bodies are reckless in waste storage and disposal often resulting in environmental hazards inimical to animal and human health. Despite the above environmental challenges, little attention is currently given to the problems. Indeed, many have concluded that filthiness in Ibadan is cultural in origin as the people are dirty by nature. This is why this paper is set to: establish the interdependence of nature and culture on one hand and sanitation and the environment on the other; investigate the root of sanitation crisis in Ibadan; identify stakeholders and their roles in environmental management in Ibadan; examine the efficacy of the governmental strategies in environmental management in Ibadan; assess peoples' attitude and perception to personal hygiene, environmental management and the implications of on their health; suggest some ways out of the crisis.
Highlights
This paper contends that the impact of British colonial rule on the growth and expansion of Ibadan was a near-absolute paradox
The colonial urban environmental policies engendered unprecedented growth in Ibadan. It initiated enduring environmental crises which negated the much touted positive contributions of colonial urbanism. These identified environmental crises endured from colonial times to post-colonial era in Ibadan
Post-colonial Ibadan as this study shows continues to draw more people to her expansive land and over the years has developed a paradoxical character
Summary
This paper contends that the impact of British colonial rule on the growth and expansion of Ibadan (like most of Nigerian cities) was a near-absolute paradox. The forum concluded that problems of uncontrolled population growth, rural stagnation, migration, the inability of urban centers to cope with the rate of population increase and environmental deterioration demand corrective action at both the national and international levels This is why Borofice [8] rightly linked the current global environment crises to the development crisis, both of which are the result of unsustainable system of production and consumption in the North, inappropriate development models in the south and a fundamentally inequitable world order. At the heart of the crises is the fact while most cities in the developed World have taken concrete actions to entrench sustainable development plans; most cities in the underdeveloped countries, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, are yet to have effective programs or sustainable national action plans to ensure provision of the basic necessities of life and maintaining decent and healthy environment For this reason, most cities in post- colonial sub Saharan African that ought to be “epic centers of development” are bogged down with severe environmental problems. Some experts and non-experts alike are blaming most of the post-colonial environmental crises in Ibadan on the negative handling of the environment by most of the stakeholders
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