Pollution is a typical concern in different places and we fight different pollution battles. While some places have to deal with land pollution, there are places where water or air pollution is their problem. Unfortunately, in some places like my country, we struggle with the three types of pollution.
I am not sure which kind of pollution is the worst because they all have a bad impact on our well-being. Whether it is land, water, or air pollution, it only causes problems, particularly to our health and the environment.
I have seen pollution at different levels in my country which is very disappointing because we put effort into many things except cleanliness. I have seen people looking so radiant outside, but back at home, their environment is horrible, and you will start wondering how someone with that lifestyle copes in such an environment.
Like the prompt said, many people adapt easily to pollution and they don't care anymore about what kind of environment they live in. I find it unbelievable seeing people sell items like food, fruit, and other consumables in these kinds of environments, and some people patronize them.
It is worse than that because I saw a video of a house that was locked by the government. Their sewage tank is broken and the tenants live comfortably, not minding the foul smell and diseases they could have contracted.
Some throw their refuse into the canal and drainage once it rains, causing a blockage. Some would just find a spot in their environment and make it a dumping ground when the government has made provisions for those who should dispose of that dirt.
My dad used to say that Nigeria wasn't as dirty as it is during the military regime, and I think the governments after the military regime should be blamed a lot for the pollution problems in the country at the moment. Not everyone in the country is dirty and contributes to pollution, but those polluting the environment are more than those taking care of it. However, with government intervention, there is the possibility of creating a balance.
The government is making efforts to employ cleaners, but what can 10,000 cleaners do when more than half of over 200 million people are polluting the environment?
The major way of dealing with pollution is to work directly with people and not just cleaners. I remember that we don't go out on every last Saturday of the month until around 10am because of the compulsory environmental sanitation held across the country.
On that day, people are forced to clean their environments and failure to do so will attract penalties. Sadly, these exercises don't hold anymore, and we expect people to still care for their environments.
The government needs to take serious action with huge penalties on individuals and communities that fail to clean their environments regularly. Practices like the monthly environmental sanitation should be reinstated with stricter rules.
My image
While the land and water pollution can be controlled, it would be hard for us to do anything about air pollution. If we can take care of our environment and there are no more foul smells, how do we control the fumes from our engines?
Every bus, bike, and tricycle we use every day contributes to that, so we might not be able to do anything about air pollution, but the rest can be worked on with strict rules and heavy punishment.