As part of its continuous efforts at getting to the root of the alleged lead poisoning in the Ogijo community by seven recently shut Used Lead Acid Battery (ULAB) recycling industries, arising from a viral video which has led to the temporary suspension of ingot export from the state, the Ogun State Government is to conduct free lead poisoning tests on the residents of the town, especially those living around the six ULAB industries and their workers.
Commissioner for Health, Dr. Tomi Coker, said a lead testing centre, with medical experts and the full complement of medical equipment, has already been set up at the Ogijo Primary Health Centre, and will commence operations on Monday.
Coker announced this when she and her Ministry of Environment counterpart, Dr. Ola Oresanya, led a state government delegation comprising medical and environmental experts from the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Environment, and the Ogun State Environmental Protection Agency (OGEPA), to meet with all Executive Committee Members of Community Development Associations (CDAs) in Ogijo and the Ologijo-in-Council at the Ologijo Palace.
She, therefore, called on the CDAs and the Ologijo-in-Council to inform all their members of the importance of the lead test and encourage them to take the opportunity to know their lead status, stating that the Prince Dapo Abiodun-led administration will never trade their well-being for economic and industrial development and gains.
Also speaking, the Commissioner for Environment, Dr. Ola Oresanya, announced that the process audit of the seven ULAB industries, including steel industries in the town, will start this week, adding that any company that fails the process audit will be shut perpetually until it complies one hundred percent with the newly recommended process.
He, therefore, called on executives of the Community Development Associations (CDAs) to put aside the economic benefits they and their members derive from the companies and cooperate with the state government to enforce industrial environmental standards, adding that this is not the time to play politics with the government’s good intentions but the best period to prioritize their health, welfare, and well-being, and stop pleading for industries when the government’s hammer falls on them for environmental infractions.
Oresanya also used the opportunity to counsel the CDAs to stop selling land to industries in residential areas, saying that, on the part of government, it will not give approval for the building of industries in residential areas, advising those willing to build industries to go to industrial clusters.
Responding, the Ologijo of Ogijo, Oba Kazeem Olaonipekun Gbadamosi, represented by the Lisa of Ogijo, Chief Sunday Lawal, thanked the state government for its timely response to the alleged lead poisoning from a viral video in the town through the shutting of seven ULAB companies and the conduct of free lead tests for residents of the town, while some CDA chieftains—Adesina Adeyemi, Ganiu Tiamiyu, Gboyega Usman, and Tunde Rufus—promised to take the message back to their members for better understanding and collaboration with the state government.
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