The Ogun State Waste Management Authority (OGWAMA) has commenced a special 24-hour waste management operation in preparation for the upcoming 22nd National Sports Festival, tagged "Gateway Games 2024."

This intensive operation, which will continue until the conclusion of the festival, aims to maintain cleanliness across the state as it prepares to host Nigeria's equivalent of the Olympic Games.

According to Abayomi Hunye, Special Adviser to the Governor on OGWAMA, the authority has strategically deployed personnel and machinery throughout the state to ensure a cleaner, healthier, and safer environment before, during, and after the sports festival.

"To achieve this, day and night operations for twenty-four hours daily have begun with the aim of mopping up all wastes from every part of the state as well as desilting all road verges for a cleaner environment," Hunye stated.

The comprehensive waste management plan includes mobilizing all Waste Private Sector Participants (PSP) servicing communities across the state. These operators have been directed to undertake additional trips to manage domestic and public waste, ensuring no backlog accumulates anywhere in the state. Government compactors have also been deployed to complement these efforts.

For competition venues scattered throughout the state, OGWAMA has made special arrangements not only to transport waste but also to promptly collect all refuse resulting from human activities. Sweepers will work in rotating shifts to maintain cleanliness at the venues throughout the event.

"The sweepers will also work in shifts to keep clean all the highways, state, and street roads statewide," Hunye emphasized.

The Special Adviser appealed to visitors and tourists arriving in the state to exercise caution while driving and to pay attention to OGWAMA caution signs, as workers will be conducting special round-the-clock operations on roads and streets across the state.

He also urged residents to maintain their usual standards of environmental cleanliness by continuing to containerize their waste, facilitating easier and more efficient collection and disposal by their respective PSP operators.

Reiterating OGWAMA's unwavering commitment to fostering a clean, healthy, and safe environment throughout the duration of the National Sports Festival, Hunye welcomed all athletes, officials, visitors, and tourists to Ogun State, which he described as "a land of many firsts," including in the area of sustainable and proper waste management.