The Founder of the Moshood Ajadi Foundation, Ambassador Dr. Moshood Ismail Abioye Ajadi, has appealed to the Oyo State Ministry of Environment and the Oyo State Road Traffic Management Authority (OYRTMA) to strengthen their service delivery by focusing more on their core responsibilities and improving communication with residents across the state.
Amb. Dr. Ajadi acknowledged the challenges faced by government agencies due to limited resources but encouraged them to avoid actions that could be misinterpreted as exploitative or insensitive to the needs of the people. He emphasized that every public agency serves best when it operates with empathy, transparency, and fairness.
He expressed concern over instances where vehicles were reportedly towed or moved from undesignated parking areas without clear signage or prior notice, noting that such situations could easily create misunderstanding between the public and enforcement officers. “Public enlightenment and proper communication should always come before enforcement,” he said. “We live in a time where education and courtesy build more compliance than punishment.”
On environmental management, Amb. Dr. Ajadi advised the Ministry of Environment to take more proactive steps by providing designated refuse collection points and mobile waste trucks for both urban and suburban communities.
He added that introducing a modest and well-communicated house-to-house waste charge, as practiced in some other African and developed countries, could serve as a sustainable means of maintaining waste disposal equipment and supporting staff welfare. However, he cautioned against poor sensitization or arbitrary fines, stressing that first-time offenders should be properly informed rather than penalized.
“Back then when I was younger, we saw waste collectors lorries on our streets collecting waste and joyfully people troop out with their waste to deposit in the lorries, let’s have this era back, if no funds to get lorries role out government private partnership or call on ngos for support, let’s have that community free of dirt and painlessly approach where poor people won’t have to be arrested and fine even as a first timer” said Otunba Ajadi
The Foundation further encouraged the Honourable Commissioner for Environment to hold strategic meetings with community landlords’ associations, their chairmen, excos, and major stakeholders to foster better collaboration in waste management. Such engagements, he said, would help in allocating waste trucks, announcing visitation schedules to communities, and ensuring that local executives promptly report any irregularities to the ministry for quick response.
Amb. Dr. Ajadi reaffirmed the Foundation’s readiness to continue supporting government initiatives aimed at making Oyo State cleaner, safer, and more people-oriented. He praised the efforts of the state government so far and called for continued cooperation between agencies and citizens to achieve shared progress.
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Signed:
Office of the Founder
Moshood Ajadi Foundation
Oyo State, Nigeria
