Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State has declared a “small state of emergency” on waste management to tackle mounting refuse collection and disposal challenges across the metropolis.
The declaration followed an inspection tour of the Olusosun dumpsite in Ojota, where the Governor was accompanied by Deputy Governor Dr. Obafemi Hamzat and the Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab. The visit was aimed at identifying operational bottlenecks and deploying immediate, medium, and long-term interventions.
Acknowledging recent pressure on waste collection that led to indiscriminate refuse dumping, Sanwo-Olu outlined the state’s immediate strategy to overhaul operations.
“We are here for ourselves to see what the problem is and what is happening, so that we can clearly declare what we will call a small state of emergency,” Sanwo-Olu said. “This is necessary for us to get out of this very unpleasant situation and restore effective waste collection and disposal across Lagos.”
To address the backlog, the state is expanding daily intake at Olusosun from 250–350 trucks to 350–450 trucks by increasing active tipping points from two to as many as five. Interventions are also slated for Solu 3, Iwulepe in Ikorodu, Oke-Osho in Epe, and Erikitte in Badagry.
“We are hoping that in another six weeks, we will have four active dump sites , Olusosun, Solu 3, Iwulepe and Oke-Osho with a fifth one at Erikitte in Badagry,” Sanwo-Olu noted. “What that will do is enhance and improve the turnaround of trucks on the various roads, so that they do not come to one dump site and spend 12 hours or even an entire day before they can discharge.”
