Dr. Betta Edu And Volunteering: The Need For The Involvement Of The Masses In Community Development Projects In Cross River August 06, 2021
By Paul Ojeka
What service could be greater than service to humanity? One of the qualities of a good citizen is found in efforts to volunteer to be active in community development projects. While the good citizens, out of the burning desire for development, think of participating in the cause of salvaging the community of all forms of socioeconomic challenges, bad citizens don't respect others; they don't have loyalty or respect for their leaders; they don't care about cleaning the public places, rather, they give bad image about their community to the world through their words and actions.
When your physical environment wears dirty looks as a result of man's reckless activities on it, in absence of while the intervention of the government's agencies responsible for the cleaning of the environment, doesn't come up, instantly, what do you do? Certainly, no good citizen would take pictures of those temporary filths and take them to CNN or busy social media fora. The disposition of great minds towards how to make the society a better place should be applied. The virtue of patriotism does not cost a thing, but its rewards last forever. Those who have immortalised their names in the sands of history were not necessarily millionaires, but were people who recognised the value of patriotism and deployed them as bricks to build the society. Consequently, their consistent positive actions served as the best interpreters of their loyalty and patriotism. Words are not enough to help us write our names in Gold, but consistent positive transformational words and actions. No doubt, words are the precursors to human actions as stated in the Holy Bible, "out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks". This goes to justify the fact that those who consistently condemn people with their vitriolic words, if given the opportunity can convert their lethal words to bombs.
According to the 35th president of the United States, J.F. Kennedy, "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country".
In like manner, here in Cross River State, in 2016 Dr. Betta Edu, as the Director General, Cross River State Primary Health Care Development Agency opined:
"Volunteering is a catalyst for development".
Action, they say, speaks louder than words. It's in line with the above aphorism that this patriotic Cross-riverian, Dr. Betta Edu (under the auspices of about a thousand of her friends and partners in endless support for the Ayade's project of maintaining a clean, neat and green Calabar, nay Cross River) transformed her good intention into the energy to clean Calabar as volunteer cleaners. This voluntary service that highlights her love for Cross River State will remain evergreen in the minds of all who have the state and humanity in their minds.
Can our fellow Cross-Riverians take a cue from this exemplary life of Dr. Betta Edu? Sadly, today, people find it convenient to throw litters in drainages even when the state government has provided dumpsters for proper waste disposal at no cost. While the gutters are blocked, passage of running water during the raining season becomes difficult leading to erosion, filthy environment with its concomitant of outbreak of avoidable
diseases.
If Dr. Betta Edu can do it, what stops every Cross-Riverian from toeing her step? The task of keeping the environment clean, in my conviction, if it's conscensciously made a way of life and a compulsory task for all, then, the burden of managing wastes by the waste management team would have been lightened. In school, civic education is imparted. This education which instills moral obligation drives consciousness to participate in active volunteering towards community development projects, like the case in point. But for those who have minimal formal civic education, since volunteering is not found in their dictionary, civil laws should guide them to act in tandem with rules to maintain social structure to enhance unity, peace and progress of the society. One way in which all and sundry can participate, without duress, to keep the physical environment free of filths is through enforcements of levy on waste generation. More waste, more levy.
In the 21st century, with modern waste management techniques, waste should be used as raw material for wealth creation. On this note, the waste managers need to think outside the box to explore technologies to convert wastes to wealth. With globalisation enabling easy transfer of such culture across continents: a leaf should be borrowed from the West to our environment. As the saying goes, "a single stone can be used to kill two birds." In other words, while solving the problems of wastes, another vista of employment opportunity can be opened to solve employment problem. Meanwhile, the multiplier effect of this modern waste management technology could go a long way to bloat Cross River's age long reputation for distinct greenness, cleanness and a preferred tourist destination.
Say no to littering the physical environment, take a cue from #Edu in volunteering to keep the environment clean. This should become part of our culture so that there will be no need to police anyone to maintain a healthy environmental sanitation.
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