AN EVALUATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION IN AWKA TOWN IN VIEW OF LAUDATO SI’

Abstract

Awka town which is equally the capital city of Anambra state is quite the opposite of what is expected of a capital city as a result of the Environmental pollution evidenced in the town. This work attempts to critically evaluate the environmental pollution in Awka town in view of the encyclical letter of Pope Francis captioned LAUDATO SI’. The Reasoned/Responsible Action Theory, The Environmental Citizenship Theory, the Pollution Haven Hypothesis and the concept of Ecological sin were employed in this work to actualize its peculiar purpose. The primary and secondary means of data collection were equally espoused in this study. It was realised that the majority of Awka residents are oblivious of the fact that environmental pollution is a disruption of God’s created order; hence they indulge in it: The corollary effect is that it makes the town dirty and unkept; and equally makes the town uninhabitable while the air in the atmosphere is fusty, musty and unhealthy. The few spacious empty lands are so congested with refuse dumps that some of them are no longer fit for agricultural and even construction purposes. This work in the light of the contents of LAUDATO SI’ challenges the residents and citizens of Awka town to desist from environmental pollution, since it is against God’s design and desire; and constitutes a violation of the beauty of nature and a sin against nature: In order to restore the civil and pristine nature of the town and make the environment healthy and habitable; and the lands fit for Agricultural as well as construction purposes. This work adopts the qualitative method of data analysis. All the data that were collected were efficiently presented via phenomenological and culture-centered approaches.