Living in a student environment can be a hassle sometimes and this is because, depending on the environment, most times house owners in these areas prefer to stay away from the houses they have built for reasons best know to them. So based on the hivelearners topic for this edition, we are asked to share the major cause of pollution in our area, that is, our place of residence. So without taking much time, let’s quickly dive into one major thing causing pollution in my environment.
As a student of one of the universities of Nigeria, I have always never liked the idea of living in the school hostels and because of that, I had to look for an apartment off campus but one that is close to school. There is this particular neighborhood that shares a very close boundary with school and I was fortunate to find an apartment there. My room is quite nice and I have a lovely roommate too. We have access to electricity and water and good level of security too but then, one of the major problems is the issue of pollution.
The roads are so underdeveloped and it has so many potholes. That’s not the problem actually. The major problem which also happens to be the cause of pollution is the bad drainage system. During the dry season, everything seems fine and good but then, the moment a little rain falls, everywhere just gets flooded. It’s as if someone has been waiting for it to rain so they can release water that has been stored somewhere. Now, this causes the gutters to be filled in no time and then, due to how littered everywhere is most times, once the rain stops every where will become really dirty and unkempt.
It is really bad in some areas close to mine that once it rains they will find it really hard to leave their hostels to school. For me, depending on how heavy the rain fell, I would have to walk inside a very dirty water to get to school. And sometimes, I feel discouraged from going to school but thank goodness I have more reasons to be in class and I can easily get that thought off my head.
Sadly, no one seems to care. Everyone is just complaining but adjusting to the way things are there. And like I mentioned, most of the houses built there are lived in by students who came from far and wide to the university of Benin and because of that, they have little or no say at all after all they will be done in no time. Personally for me, I have come to see that if care is not taken, things might only get worst in more years to come because that area will always be habituated by students from all walks of life and people will keep on building more houses.
I guess those that have built houses there already thought about this and that’s why they don’t even think about coming around there not to mention staying there. Because as long as it’s the students living in the environment, they will be more concerned with going to school than their messy environment. It all seemed well planned out but I very sure it’s just a coincidence. Besides the students that live there, most of the other residents are there for business and the only thing they care about is their business and how they can make profit.
I’m a bit fortunate because I was able to find a place closer to the school’s back gate. I don’t have to get through so much stress to get to school on a rainy day. But I really hope that one day someone will be able to speak up for the students that live in that environment and something will be done about the poor drainage system. I strongly believe that fixing the drainage will solve the problem to a considerable extent.
Thanks for reading through. ❤️
