Lagos State has prosecuted more than 4,000 residents in the past year for illegally dumping waste on roads, medians, and drainage channels, the Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, told journalists on Wednesday.
Wahab expressed frustration at what he described as “blatant violations” of environmental laws, questioning why residents would discard household waste on public roads despite available waste collection services.
“The question we need to ask is: why are people taking waste from their homes and dumping it on the median? Sometimes, you wake up and see people using very beautiful and expensive vehicles to dump refuse on the roadside or on road medians,” he said.
Wahab stressed that enforcement is a key part of the state’s Clean Lagos strategy.
“We have arrested a lot of them. My belief is that there must be consequences for bad behaviour. That is why we take them to court. We have prosecuted over 4,000 in the last 12 months. We are not playing,” he said, comparing the strict enforcement to global examples like Singapore, where minor infractions carry penalties.
Addressing complaints about inconsistent waste collection by Private Sector Participants (PSPs), Wahab highlighted the importance of residents complying with payment requirements.
“If you don’t pay, how do you want to enjoy the service? They are business people. The government still intervenes by supporting them with subsidies and grants,” he said.
While admitting the current waste evacuation system needs refinement, the commissioner affirmed that it is fundamentally workable. He revealed that the state is expanding landfill capacity, with new sites under development in Epe, Oke-Oso, and Erekete in Badagry, stressing that proper infrastructure will make them accessible and attractive for PSP operators.
Drawing a comparison with global challenges, Wahab noted that even developed countries face similar issues.
“This time last year, the whole of Birmingham was dealing with mountains of refuse for about seven to eight months. All over the world, waste management is a challenge. But what we will never do is raise our hands and surrender. That would mean we have failed,” he said.
He said the situation in Lagos has improved in recent weeks due to stricter monitoring of PSP operators and increased capacity support from the Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA).
“We have started monitoring the PSP operators and warned them that if they can’t meet expectations of refuse collection and disposal, we will take them out of the system. LAWMA has also doubled its support. That is why there is noticeable improvement across the state,” he added.
According to Wahab, Lagos generates over 13,000 metric tonnes of waste daily, a figure that exceeds the daily output of some African countries, highlighting the scale of the challenge confronting the state’s waste management system.
