By Adekunle Adesina
Lagos’s cosmopolitan nature as the country’s commercial nerve center could be likened to nectar, which always attracts interest and patronage from all ‘insects’ and sectors despite its status as a subnational.
It has been argued that some of the pressures Lagos has had to contend with in terms of overstretching its infrastructure emanated from its position as a land of limitless opportunities that offer hope to everyone, irrespective of social status, tribe, religion, or creed.
Successive administrations since 1999 have devised various strategies to make the city of Lagos livable for its ever-increasing residents. Since May 29, 2023, when he assumed office for a second term in office, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has paid more attention to environmental regeneration. Consequently, the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources has developed a comprehensive, multi-sectoral approach to ensure a clean, resilient, and livable city.
In the last two years, the Ministry, under the leadership of Mr. Tokunbo Wahab, has transitioned from a linear “collect and dump” waste system to a sustainable circular economy. This has led to a very appreciable reduction of the quantum of waste generated daily, especially in terms of what gets to our landfill sites.
Specifically, as part of the agenda to transition from controlled dumpsite to sanitary landfill and direct treatment of municipal waste, the Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) has decommissioned the Epe landfill. On the other hand, Olusosun and Solous 3 landfills are to be converted to Transfer Loading Stations (TLS), while the Erekiti and Agbowa site is marked for Material Recovery MRF /residual landfills.
The State has also opened the Oke-Osho sanitary landfill in Epe with a total area of about 120 hectares, designed for solid waste management, particularly for the support of the growing economy and development of the Lekki-Epe hub.
Also, the government daily deploys not less than 15,000 street sweepers across highways, inner roads, and markets to ensure a cleaner metropolis. To sustain the momentum, the government also ensures stronger enforcement of environmental laws, penalizing illegal dumping and indiscriminate waste disposal alongside several preventive measures.
To address open defecation, the government is constructing more modern public toilets in markets, transport hubs, and informal settlements, just as the construction of an additional 150 new public toilets is ongoing alongside an additional 250 toilets being executed through the public-private partnership under the WASH initiative.
Arrangements are also being made for the public to make use of the toilets facilities located in major filling stations statewide. The same applies to eateries and supermarkets, which have all been mandated by law to provide toilet facilities in their business outlets where patrons and members of the public are allowed to walk in and ease themselves.
Several public toilets also exist across the metropolis, some are free while others charge a token. To ensure proper maintenance and good hygiene, the government regularly inspects the toilets.
All these represent genuine efforts by the present administration to ensure a cleaner city that is devoid of environmental malfeasance.
It is, however, important to urge the residents to be on the same page with the government in its efforts to regenerate the environment. No matter the investment of the government toward improving the environment, without the buy-in of the people, it might not count.
On its part, the state is not relenting in its enforcement measures to ensure that residents obey the provisions of the 2017 Environmental Sanitation and Management law through the hard work of the operatives of the Kick Against Indiscipline (KAI). Many of those caught on the wrong side of the law have faced prosecution. It needs, however, to be stressed that the government is more interested in intentional conmpliance.
It is vital to stress the pragmatic and decisive approach of the government in transitioning to a sustainable circular economy. This has been largely done through the banning of the sale, distribution, and use of Styrofoam food packs.
A major contributor to urban flooding and clogged drains, Styrofoam food packs have diverse negative effects on the environment. The state is already getting the buy-in of major chain stores and outlets that now give customers the option of buying bigger/reusable bags to convey their goods and retaining such for multiple uses instead of the single-use bags to which many are accustomed.
Although the move has generated uproar in some departmental stores because people just cannot come to terms with paying for carrier bags when it is supposed to be free. However, with increased sensitization, people are coming to terms with it and embracing the usage as it is obtained in many distant locations.
As part of measures to support the implementation of the plastic waste management process, the state has also gone a step further by inaugurating a Plastic Waste Fund Management Committee, comprising both government and non-governmental members.
Similarly, in the last two years, owing to the proactive actions of the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA), the government has been upbeat in the way it tackles the menace of industrial effluent discharge into the Lagos waterways. LASEPA has ensured effective monitoring and best practices in manufacturing facilities and chemical warehouses across the state.
This has resulted in the reduction of incidents of fire outbreaks and chemical spillage in chemical markets in the state. Contrary to insinuations, state officials actively leverage natural purification processes to improve the quality of water in the lagoon and canals. The government also regularly engages in continuous surveillance and enforcement measures to ensure that businesses and residential areas comply with wastewater management policies to reduce pollutants in waterways. Of late, the Waste Water Management Office has deployed three Modular Septage Pre-Treatment Plants (MSPP) -that enable efficient treatment of fecal sludge before discharge into the Odo Iya Alaro waterbody.
This is in addition to the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Messrs Phasur Green Energy to leverage on Phasur’s enterprise and resources to enhance wastewater management through the use of dewatered sludges for the protection of biogas.
In the last two years, the Sanwo-Olu administration has amply shown that having a cleaner and safer environment is possible. It must, however, be stressed that the residents need to change their attitude to environmental issues. The Earth, for now, is our home. It is where we live, breathe, eat, raise our children, etc. Therefore, we cannot afford to destroy the environment because our whole essence depends on it.
Thus, when we imbibe positive attitudinal change towards the environment, we are sure of living free of any pollutants or hazards that we might introduce into our environment through human-induced activities.
It is whatever we give to the environment that it gives back to us. Therefore, community leaders, traditional rulers, religious leaders, NGOs, and other stakeholders should work in partnership with the government to ensure that current gains in the sector are sustained. It is only in doing this that the government’s massive investment in protecting the environment will not be a waste.
• Adeshina is the Director of Public Affairs, Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources, Alausa, Ikeja.