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By Stephen Adeleye.
Kogi Government on Saturday expressed satisfaction over the high cooperation and compliance by the people and Nigerian Army to participate in the June sanitation exercise in the state.
The State Commissioner, Environment and Natural Resources, Mr Sanusi Yahaya, disclosed this while speaking with newsmen shortly after the monthly exercise in Lokoja.
According to him, this June sanitation exercise witnessed a high compliance than the previous ones; it is a better outing today, we thank God for what we have been able to do.
“It is going to improve as it is getting better month by month.
“There is no traffic jam at Nataco junction today which used to be a very sensitive spot during sanitation day,” he said.
Yahaya, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Mrs Hannah Odiyo, attributed the success of the exercise to the Nigerian Army’s participation.
He said that the Army participated in the clean-up exercise as part of the activities to mark their Army Day Celebration scheduled for July 7.
He said that one of the activities to celebrate Army day was the collaboration with the people of the state to ensure a successful clean-up.
He added that the exercise coincided with the monthly sanitation day.
“On behalf of the Kogi government, I want to express our gratitude to the army record office for coming out today to identify with us,” he said.
The Commander, Command Army Records Headquarters, Lokoja, Major-Gen. Felix Agugo, said that the army’s participation in the exercise was one of the activities often conducted to foster Civil-Military Cooperation.
“We all know that today is a normal state monthly sanitation.
“The army are out as a way of identifying with the people of Nigeria and Kogi residents to associate with the good work they are doing in keeping the environment clean.
“It is for people outside to see soldiers as people who did not only belong to the barracks or to the forest, but we also engender what we called “Civil-Military Cooperation.
“This is very important in our work especially the military’s involvement now in operations against terrorism, militancy called ‘Internal Security Operations’, where we are conducting operations in eight of the civil authority.
“This is one of the reasons why we are getting involved and increasing our tempo in things that help the citizens.
“Particularly, today’s event is meant to mark the Nigerian Army Day Celebration, which is a weeklong celebration that is commemorated on July 7.
“We are thanking the people of Kogi, who have fully come out to support us and identify with us, I believed it is a successful exercise,’’ he said.
Agugo, however, commended Kogi government for making Confluence City cleaner and tidy far more than it used to be.
He also lauded the people in-charge of the Confluence City for doing a good job, urging them not to relent in keeping the environment clean.
Mr Solomon Nuhu Ayehu, the Deputy National President, Environmental Health Officers Association of Nigeria (EHOAN), also commended the Nigerian Army for the initiative to participate in the exercise.
Ayehu said that the collaborative efforts were worthy.
“Every society that actually needs health for her people must take sanitation activities very seriously.
“We all know that more than 60 to 70 per cent of the disease human beings are suffering for today are directly from our environment,” he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Nigerian Army also offered a free medical treatment with free drugs for the vulnerable people to mark the 2018 Army Day Celebration.
(NAN)
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