Street Cleaner: Christopher Anaekwe Garners Fame for Picking Trash
Nigeria gets a lot of flak for not keeping its cities clean. According to WHO, 94% of the population is exposed to air pollution whose levels are above the organization’s guidelines; the city of Onitsha in the southern part of the country is known as the most polluted city in the entire planet.
So it was no surprise when some of the city’s residents decided that something must be done about it. Much of the pollution has been affecting the people’s health there. And leading the way is none other than Christopher Anaekwe, who became the internet’s latest hero for picking up his city’s trash.
Anaekwe had organized a group of people to clean up the streets and dispose of the trash in a more organized manner. It was no easy feat; one look at the city’s garbage is enough to see how uphill a task it was.
Anaekwe himself commented that the enormity of the trash and government’s inaction frustrated him. As a part of the UN SDG (Sustainable development Goals), he taught college students on the consequences of throwing trash and had faced some resistance in organizing his group.
The initiative has garnered a lot of praise worldwide. While there have been some actions taken place to solve the city’s pollution, Anaekwe’s actions takes the cake as he has shown that the city does care about its rampant pollution and is willing to take matters into their own hands. Anaekwe has stated that he will be continuing his mission despite the enormity of the trash at hand. Hopefully, his actions will inspire the other citizens to fo
