I never knew how bad we had it with the pollution in my country until my aunt came visiting from London with her family.
I remembered vividly how my cousin and I were about to board a taxi for our girls outing. As we stood waiting for the cab guy to get to us, she inhaled heavily and gently released the air from her lungs through her nostrils.
Affirmatively, she said to me, The air is not clean. I wondered how she could tell, and of course I questioned how she knew, and then she said that the air was choking.
Like she could read my mind and knew I was curious, she explained further. She told me that back in London, the air was fresh; it doesn't itch when it hits the throat, and as it moves freely from the nostrils down to the lungs, it doesn't choke too.
I still wasn't understanding her, and then she asked me to inhale deeply and exhale gently. I did, and all I got was a faint, pungent smell of exhaust fumes, dust and dirt. I mean, how could I tell if the air was unclean when I have not had a breath of fresh air?
Well, after that encounter with my cousin, I started paying attention to the air around me. I found myself inhaling and exhaling calmly to get a feel of the air in wherever I find myself.
From there, I started noticing the significant differences in the air at different locations.
I noticed that the areas with little or no trees and vegetation smell more pungent and feel a bit heavy taking it in. I found myself exerting more energy to breathe in these areas than in rural settings with trees and greenery.
It soon became clear what my cousin meant, and I couldn't help but wonder how it must be for people living in industrial areas.
Really, it's no news that developing countries struggle to manage their waste. If the industries are not emitting black soot and poisonous gas, the cars are doing the damage.
Just this passing week my colleagues and I drove past the refinery in my area, and one of them commented on the gas flaring. She questioned why, up till this moment, the authorities still haven't found a way to manage the waste. As we drove on, we spoke about the damages that the industries have done not only to our air but also to our water.
A damage so bad that business deteriorated for local fishermen as the fishes in the surrounding river have all migrated or probably even gone extinct.
You know, sometimes I wonder if the resultant effect of industrialization is worth the price that we pay with our health and the environment.
It's even sadder that, up to the household, we find people actively compounding our pollution problem. You will go to riverine areas and see them dump their waste in the river.
You see them openly defecate in the same water that they consume for cooking, bathing, and even drinking. When you try to educate them, they will tell you that the river will dispose of the waste as it flows. But the river does nothing because the waste remains not only in the water but also transfers to the air by stinking up the whole place.
This is the setting that we've adapted to, and it's quite difficult to correct unless it deals a major blow to the people's health, exactly like what we see going on with the Ogoni people of Rivers State.
It took the fatal destruction of their farmlands and their rivers for them to stand up against the government and say enough is enough. It was a tough fight, but they were able to put an end to the oil exploration in their community. An act that has since been met by several punishing tactics from the government.
You know, I love how firmly the people stood in their decision as they are actively pushing back against political victimization. Not only that, we see them adopt several cleanupexercises under the body of Ogoni cleanup.
The last time I was there, I saw a great difference, and I really do wish every other community would adapt to their initiatives. Maybe not zero out oil exploration, but see to it that the company and people manage their waste effectively.
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