Lagos sets March return for monthly sanitation exercise

2026-02-15 - 17:11

By Olasunkanmi Akoni The Lagos State Government has announced plans to reintroduce its mandatory monthly sanitation exercise on the last Saturday of every month starting March 2025. The initiative is part of a broader effort to enforce environmental cleanliness across the state. The government also expressed satisfaction with the progress of ongoing Lagos Island Regeneration Projects, which form part of deflooding measures for the area. Residents, however, were urged not to wait for official movement restrictions but to voluntarily maintain cleanliness in their surroundings. Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, made the disclosure during a high-level inspection of ongoing projects and environmental infractions on Lagos Island. He was accompanied by Special Adviser on the Environment, Kunle Rotimi-Akodu. Wahab said the exercise, previously held from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. on the last Saturday of every month, was suspended in November 2016 due to challenges in restricting movement in the megacity. However, rising heaps of refuse, clogged drainage, and indiscriminate dumping made it imperative to reintroduce the exercise. “The truth is we were meant to start last week, but we had a logistics issue. We have to find a day acceptable to all stakeholders. I strongly believe we should start sometime in March, or even earlier,” Wahab said. The commissioner stressed that the state faces a discipline issue rather than a waste problem, adding that markets along major corridors contribute significantly to indiscriminate dumping despite having access to bins. “We will make very hard decisions on some corridors. We won’t just stop at clearing out; we will start wielding the hif stick from tomorrow,” he added. On the Lagos Island regeneration project, Wahab assured residents that the initiatives to improve drainage and public spaces are on course. “Regeneration of Lagos Island has been ongoing for months. Areas that previously required rain boots to navigate are seeing real progress,” he said. During the inspection, Wahab and officials visited the Oja-Oba underbridge, a site earmarked for development under a proposed PPP/CSR arrangement. “We are clearing while negotiating with interested parties, ensuring that designs add value to the area. The project will be completed in phases,” he explained. Wahab emphasized the need for residents to embrace a culture of environmental cleanliness beyond government directives. “We all need to set aside a few hours each Saturday to care for our environment. It costs nothing, and it’s the essence behind bringing back the sanitation exercise,” he said. The decision to reinstate the monthly sanitation exercise followed extensive deliberations by the Lagos Executive Council and legal advice from the Ministry of Justice. Wahab noted that waste management is a global cultural practice and stressed the importance of building a lasting culture for environmental cleanliness in Lagos. “Past legal challenges were about movement restrictions, not sanitation itself. After resolving these issues, the government felt it necessary to restart and reinforce this culture,” he concluded.