Recently, Lagos State environment has been dotted with garbage heaps. This is contrary to the environmental policy of the state to achieve a beautiful or smart city in the near future. To help in achieving this environmental policy, the state had empowered private sector participation (PSP) operators with Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) compactors and licensed new ones across the state with smaller equipment to access inner streets. Against those who contravene this policy that aims at making Lagos clean, the government has declared war on offenders, reports OKWY IROEGBU-CHIKEZIE.
The Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) has intensified its enforcement operations across the state, cracking down on indiscriminate dumping of garbage, black spots and persistent environmental violations that threaten public health and urban resilience. Speaking on the latest operation, Managing Director of LAWMA, Dr Muyiwa Gbadegesin, revealed that what is driving the recent pile-ups at specific corridors such as nuisance spots along Apapa–Mile 2–Oshodi, Ikotun–Ejigbo–Egbeda, Iyana Ipaja, LASU–Iyana Iba and around large markets reflect localised pressure points, not a system-wide failure.
He refuted some unfounded rumours peddled by uninformed critics who may not have the details of what the agency is currently doing to minimise indiscriminate refuse dumping on our streets.
He noted that three major factors dominate the seeming neglect of the metropolis.
In an interview with The Nation, the LAWMA boss stated that night-time illegal dumping on medians and setbacks is carried out by residents or unlicensed collectors trying to avoid PSP service fees. However, he said that the Lagos State Government has increased penalties that defaulters would pay toN250,000 or three months’ imprisonment for illegal dumping and littering, even as he said enforcement is active and ongoing.
He also said that market-area surge waste as a result of high, continuous inflows from traders and non-traders who bring street waste to market frontages, overwhelming day-time loading windows amid heavy traffic.
According to him, LAWMA has repeatedly cautioned against using medians as collection points and backs up PSPs with targeted “intervention” clearances. He also lamented the return of banned, illegal collectors and cart pushers in some districts, who typically dump at night into canals and road medians, creating the very eyesores residents decry.
Gbadegesin stressed that LAWMA and partner agencies have undertaken arrests and prosecutions for these offences with over 700 people through day and night surveillance with Lagos State Environmental Sanitation Corps (LAGESC).
On what LAWMA is doing to create sanity, he stated that they are undertaking hotspot clearance and night operations, intensified “intervention” sweeps on the named corridors, including Apapa–Mile 2–Oshodi; Ikotun–Jakande Gate; LASU–Iyana Iba, with night evacuations to prevent daytime re-accumulation, paired with targeted enforcement.
Others are PSP performance management, including ongoing route reviews, backup services where private capacity is thin, and directory transparency so residents can reach assigned PSP operators.
He said: ‘Beyond day-to-day clearance, Lagos is executing structural reforms to remove the root causes of highway pile-ups and improve long-term service quality, decommissioning legacy landfills and building modern infrastructure.
“Lagos is transitioning Olusosun (Ojota) and Solous III (Igando) away from open dumping towards a network built around Transfer Loading Stations (TLS) and Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs)—with timelines publicly stated and preparatory works ongoing. This shift shortens haulage; speeds turn-around for PSP trucks and keeps markets and highways clear.”
“As part of the end-state system, the state has outlined waste-to-energy capacity (for instance, Epe) to handle residuals after recycling/composting, reducing landfill reliance and methane emissions.”
To stop medians from becoming de facto dumps, he said that LAWMA has advanced plans to introduce compact/mobile TLS that will relocate loading off the roadway and into controlled nodes—especially around large markets and dense corridors.
He further disclosed that 90 per cent of the waste disposed of in the state is worth about $2.5 billion. He also reaffirmed his agency’s commitment to maintaining a cleaner environment. He urged residents to desist from dumping refuse on the roads and in canals, warning that anyone caught in the act of dumping refuse in unauthorised places will face the full wrath of the law. He advised all residents to embrace waste separation, adding that we must all stop throwing everything away and start sorting as it is done in advanced countries.
“Ninety per cent of what you throw away has value to the tune of $2.5 billion. We must start sorting that waste, collecting it and giving it to those who are in need of it. Waste to wealth is the key to the survival of Lagos. When you go to Olusosun and Solous 3, you will see it,” he stated.
He said: “In Lagos State, we must move to a point where we ban landfill sites, and that is what we are moving towards as a state government. We have commenced the process of decommissioning Olusosun and Soluos 3 within the next 18 months. We have already gone two months out of those 18 months. Just give us an allowance for plus or minus. We are committed to decommissioning them.”
Gbadegesin reaffirmed his agency’s commitment to maintaining a cleaner environment, urging residents to stop dumping refuse on the roads and in canals, warning that anyone caught disposing of refuse in drainage channels and unauthorised places will contend with the provisions of the state sanitation laws.
He advised all residents to embrace waste separation, adding that “we must all stop throwing everything away and start sorting things as is done in advanced countries.
He disclosed plans to recruit 377 environmental health officers, aka wole-wole, as part of the new drive of the government to tame the waste challenge in the state.
He said they will be empowered by law to arrest and prosecute offenders.
He said recruitment will begin from January 2026, and the officers will be deployed to each ward in the state.
“Mr Governor granted us approval to engage 377 environmental health officers.
“That means we are going to have one in each ward. And if you are familiar with the environmental law, the environmental health officers, alias wole-wole of the olden days, have a lot of powers. They can take you to court; they can prosecute and put you in jail if you violate any of the environmental laws.
“By the time we have one in each ward, we now empower them so that we go back to those old systems. That’s the kind of enforcement system I think you are asking for,” he said.
The LAWMA Chief said the state requires at least 2,000 tricycle compactors to tackle the waste challenge, especially in the hard-to-reach areas of the state.
According to him, the state generates between 13,000 and 15,000 tons of waste daily, out of which 4,000 to 5,000 tons are collected by 450 Private Sector Partnership (PSP) operators.
“The balance is going into the drains, canals, lagoons and wetlands, among others.
“We have about 12 per cent of wetlands in Lagos, and people have been dumping waste on the wetlands,” Gbadegesin said.
Gbadegesin stated that about 22 PSP operators had been fired for inefficiency in the collection of waste.
The LAWMA boss described infrastructure as the biggest challenge in the state’s waste management system.
“The biggest issue right now in waste management is the infrastructure.
“When I talk of infrastructure, I am talking about the equipment and facilities that we will use to collect, transport, treat and dispose of the 13,000 tons of waste generated daily in the state.
“The infrastructure includes the whole logistics chain from the bins. Risk management begins from the containerisation, the households, the business and the industry.
“We don’t have enough bins. Right now, we have 80,000 smart bins that we are rolling out, and we need a lot more,” he said.
Gbadegesin added that the agency has been working closely with the council chairmen across the state to take charge of waste management and street trading in their areas.
He said at least 25 councils have already created waste management task forces as part of the synergy with LAWMA.
He pledged that LAWMA would continue to work with relevant stakeholders to ensure a cleaner Lagos.
He also stated that as part of measures to ensure a cleaner city, the Lagos State Government is committed to a 10-year development plan under which 100 new CNG compactor trucks would be procured for use next year.
According to him, to keep Lagos clean, we still need compactor trucks. Altogether, we need about 2,000 trucks; 1,000 for the day-to-day fleet and 1,000 for backup.
“This is a long-term investment package that would be supported by a statewide billing system. We will undertake an enumeration of every household and billing by the state government. Through automation, you will now get a bill from the state government. When you pay, we confirm that the PSP operator has done the job. We pay them.”
Gbadegesin reiterated that what LAWMA is working towards is to have transparency and accountability in the system.
“We believe that Lagos residents are ready to pay for waste collection if they get good service, and that is what we will ensure going forward.
“LAWMA is in advanced stages of procurement of additional compactor trucks for PSP waste collectors. This will improve service delivery and reliability statewide when coupled with the introduction of the new Transfer Loading Stations (TLS) that will reduce turnaround time, enabling the PSP operators to evacuate waste more rapidly from the doorsteps of Lagos residents,” he said.
Setting the record straight, he said that Lagos’ scale is unique in managing 13,000 tons per day in a megacity of over 20 million people, which requires continuous upgrading of assets and rules and not a one-time fix. That upgrade is underway and publicly documented.
“Eyesores are preventable; where residents bag waste, keep bins, pay their assigned PSPs and avoid illegal collectors, medians do not become loading points—and enforcement will continue against violators under the updated penalty regime.
“Enforcement is real, arrests and prosecutions have increased; penalties are stiffer; surveillance now targets night-time dumping, when most infractions occur,” he added.
The bottom line is that Lagos is not returning to “the bad old days.” The city is tightening enforcement against illegal dumping, clearing hotspots, and most importantly, building the next-generation system.
In the latest operation, Gbadegesin acknowledged the waste management challenges experienced in key areas in the state, reiterating the authority’s firm commitment to ending all forms of reckless disposal habits.
He said: “The state’s coastal geography made enforcement very important to prevent environmental hazards. A bag of refuse tossed into a drain anywhere in the metropolis does not disappear. It blocks culverts, worsens flooding, exposes households to contaminated water and sends plastics and debris into our canals and lagoon systems. Illegal dumping has consequences far beyond the act itself.”
He revealed that LAWMA has moved from episodic crackdowns to a steady, intelligence-driven enforcement model that links surveillance, community reporting and swift prosecution.
The LAWMA boss said the state is considering reintroducing the monthly sanitation exercise.
He added that the state government would soon roll out smart bins with notifications for all houses, stressing that the chips attached to the bins would notify LAWMA when the PSP Operators fail to pick up wastes at the appropriate time.
