By Ikugbadi Oluwaseun
In November 2016, Akinwunmi Ambode, Former Governor of Lagos State cancelled the monthly sanitation exercise, which was held between 7am and 10am on the last Saturday of every month.
Stating that “It is no longer appropriate to restrict movement of people for three hours in a mega city like Lagos at a time they should be pursuing commercial and entrepreneurial activities.
After over 8 years of suspending the monthly sanitation exercise, Lagos State Government has indirectly stopped residents from taking part in Monthly Sanitation action to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 6.
Since then, Lagos has been degrading from a clean and healthy city to unhealthy city.
Nigerian Tribune reported Lagos as the second dirtiest state in Nigeria In August 2024.
Every first Saturday of every month is the National Sanitation Day (NSD) in Ghana where people perform clean up exercises across the country.
In fact a bill has recently been sent to parliament by the ministry, the bill if approved will give legal backing to the NSD program allowing it to prosecute individuals who refuse to take part in the program because without enforcement and punishment, the efforts at keeping a clean environment would be wasted.
Ekiti, Edo, Akwa Ibom, Nasarawa, Adamawa, Etc are still conducting monthly sanitation exercises in Nigeria.
Akwa Ibom is the cleanest state in Nigeria and it has continued to encourage residents to participate in the monthly sanitation by restricting movement to allow full compliance of all concerned to the directive towards ensuring the maintenance of Akwa Ibom’s status as Nigeria’s cleanest state.
One will think Lagos State with a population of over 21 million people should naturally have special hours to perform the responsibility of climate change by making policy to ensure the environment is clean.
Lagos population has continued to increase daily with less plan for sanitation and provision for an effective waste disposal system.
There should be a proper plan to manage the current waste and prepare for the future waste disposal mechanism ahead to make the state healthy and clean for people residing in Lagos.
According to Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Lagos State has reported the highest number of suspected cholera cases, contributing 43 percent of the National total.
The benefit of bringing back monthly sanitation exercise will lead to prevention of cholera outbreak, prevention of mosquitos that cause malaria, and other communicable diseases. Proper flow of the state public drainage system which will invariably reduce flooding during the rainy season.
In November 2016, An Appeal Court in Lagos declared the restriction of movement during the monthly sanitation exercise illegal because Lagos state government doesn’t have any law that backed the restriction of movement during the monthly sanitation exercise.
The Lagos State House of Assembly and executive council should expedite actions and make a law that will create legitimate backing to the restriction of movement during the monthly sanitation period.
We need to create laws that will formalise the policy of keeping Lagos clean by ensuring people are punished for not keeping a clean environment and for failing to comply with the monthly sanitation exercise.
Those who are enforcing the monthly sanitation must also be ready to prosecute those who erred to the directive of the state during the sanitation exercise.
The organizations in charge of waste management will be able to use the opportunity to function effectively on sanitation day by making sure all waste gathered during the sanitation exercise is taken off the community on the same day.
Lagos State government should also create sanctions for people who refuse to periodically clear their drainage system, clear the weeds and dirt around the perimeter of each residential building or fence.
House occupants, organizations must take deliberate effort to make sure they take proper care of their surroundings especially outside the gate and fence of their premises.
The Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) was christened under Edict No. 55, which made the agency to be responsible for the collection and disposal of municipal and industrial waste as well as for the provision of commercial waste services to the State.
The state government needs to ensure that waste disposal agents are going to take waste from houses at least twice in every week especially during the rainy season.
The method of dropping refuse in the middle of the road should be stopped and proper waste collection tools should be placed in different parts of Lagos for individuals who can not wait to dispose of their waste before the arrival of waste collectors.
Mr. Tokunbo Wahab, Lagos State Commissioner of Environment and Water Resources has been trying all efforts to keep the state clean but they need to do more by collaborating with sister agencies to create a task force that will monitor the environment and people at home to comply during the monthly sanitation.
The state needs to do everything to avoid remarks of Lagos Smells from the citizens. The task force should be formed locally to look into surroundings and make sure public environment spaces are clean and healthy for the public.
The state government needs to provide special trucks to move the waste brought out from the drainage system immediately so that it won’t go back into the drainage after rainfall.
About twenty-two Percent of Lagos State is surrounded by water, proper management of waste will not only keep the environment clean but also prevent harmful substances from getting to the water to harm or pollute the aquatic environment with its natural habitat.
The waste that is not properly disposed may find its way into the sea, ocean or river thereby endangering the species living in their natural habitat.
It is important to take sanitation as a priority in Lagos in order to be globally aligned with Life Below the Water, the goal 14 of the SDGs.
The Managing Director/CEO of the Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA), Dr. Muyiwa Gbadegesin, has recently called on private organizations and residents to adopt streets and communities as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to enhance environmental cleanliness across Lagos State.
The responsibility of making Lagos State a mega city clean required the collective efforts of individuals, organisations and government.
The state government should not take the issue of creating a healthy environment in Lagos with levity; everything that needs to be put in place should be acted upon now to prevent the looming consequences of environmental hazards.
Lagos state house of assembly lawmakers should expedite the action by creating laws that will bring back the monthly sanitation exercise and make people comply with the monthly sanitation exercise in Lagos will make the state clean and free from environmental, air and water pollution, thereby making the state free from communicable diseases.
This will also serve as a form of creating awareness to the people by making them know the importance of having a clean and healthy environment for the people of the state.
It is time to make the law to relieve only the state government of the responsibility of trying to keep the state clean, which will deliberately make citizens participate and take actions in the process of keeping the state clean.
