From a very young age I have always been a fan of movies from the western world and in those films, the environment are usually clean even in the poor neighborhoods compared to what goes on in my own country Nigeria. Most western countries today have a law against littering that usually comes with sanctions when those laws are broken. Even though I have never really been there to confirm what goes on there, I still believe there is some level of accurate representation of what goes on over there from their films. Littering in America is a very serious offense with a punishment attached to it. Any person caught in the act is expected to pay a fine, engage in community service and in some cases serve jail time depending on the regulations of the state. I wish the same thing applicable in my country, but sadly we live in a country where lot of people don't even care about the environment. There are actually laws against littering with punishments attached for perpetrators but till date I don't think I can remember the last time anybody was punished for it.
Littering is currently a hobby in this country. There is hardly any place you go to (except rich neighborhoods) where you won't plastic bottles on the floor, pieces of papers and whatnot, somebody littering or another about to litter. Market areas are even way worse, it's like there are no body at all responsible for ensuring that such a crucial part of the community is kept clean especially in rural areas. I have spent a large percentage of my life living in Suleja, a prominent local government in Niger state and it took me a while before I discovered there was actually a body assigned with ensuring environmental hygiene. They collect taxes from home and shop owners on a monthly basis but end up doing absolutely nothing. They even show up when drainage systems a blood and the road flooding during the raining season. My experiences in this country has made me somewhat blindsided about this particular issue but regardless of it I can still provide what little contribution I have to offer.
Industries that operate mainly on production are known for being active continuously. While these machines are running to ensure that the objections of these businesses are achieved, toxic chemical waste are left behind. These waste are usually in large quantities and if not disposed properly can cause a lot of damage. A lot of industries cut corners to dump their waste clean rivers threatening aquatic life, the fumes from the engines spread through air and also damage the environment as well. Some industries are even built very close to human settlement without sufficient measures to prevent people living around from getting sick. Littering is bad whether big or small but just know that tossing a few plastic coca cola bottles on the road side will never be on the same level as what these industries let loose in the society. So if the latter causes more harm than the former, why is it that they are allowed to do so and even get away with it when folks can get arrested for not properly disposing their waste even in first world countries.
Well the answer is very simple, the owners of these businesses buy their way out of every problem that comes with this crime. It's not like the governments of the areas are not aware of what's happening, they either in on it or are getting their own cut from the profit. In some cases they is a relationship between both parties and so the government chose to turn a blind eye to what they are doing. These big shots also understand the system well enough that they are able to make it work for them without any form of repercussions.
However, there have been cases where the people eventually get fed up with what's going on suing the companies responsible for the damage and getting compensation for their loss but the chances of winning this kind of lawsuit is usually slim especially when resources to fight the good fight is low. So in the nutshell is not like the governments cannot stop these from happening, they allow it happen in the first place. Thank you for stopping by.