Lagos Govt. to Reintroducing Monthly Environmental Sanitation

Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has hinted at the likely return of the state-wide monthly sanitation exercise, expressing displeasure with the continued disregard for environmental laws, especially by those trading by the roadside and under the bridges across the state.

The governor said this Friday while conducting an inspection to check for adherence to the government’s environmental cleaning measures in various parts of the state.

The governor underlined his displeasure over the ongoing flouting of environmental regulations, particularly those dealing with trading along roadsides and under bridges.

He reiterated that his government would tolerate no unlawful trading on any of the city’s roadways, bridges, or abutments.

Commercial bus drivers were also asked by Sanwo-Olu to behave themselves and remain in the garages assigned to them.

“We need to do a bit of road clean up, but business owners in the areas we visited have given their commitment to henceforth keep their environment clean at all times,” he said.

“We also went under the Apongbon Bridge to see what is happening there, especially given the unfortunate incident of last year. Let me reiterate the government’s zero-tolerance policy for trading under the bridges in Lagos.

“Our commercial bus drivers also need to comport themselves, they need to organise themselves and stay within the parking garages that have been allocated to them. The ones at Apongbon are well-behaved, and we hope they will continue like this.

“This exercise will continue next week as hope to reach every part of the city to tell our people why we need to clean up and ensure the regeneration of our neighbourhood.

“I will also be consulting with the Ministry of Environment to see if it’s possible to re-introduce the monthly environmental sanitation so we can bring back the sanity of a liveable city that we used to know. We have seen a lot of lopsidedness and recklessness, and we need to curtail all abuses on our environment. We will work out a model to sustain our zero tolerance on environmental and transportation infractions.”

The governor moved from Marina to Orile Iganmu, Alaba Suru, Mile 2, and down to Apongbon. He was accompanied by Commissioners Tokunbo Wahab (Environment); Gbenga Omotoso (Information and Strategy); Seun Osiyemi (Transportation); and Sola Giwa (SA Transport), among other government functionaries.

September 23, 2023