Wife of Lagos State governor, Dr. (Mrs.) Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu, yesterday, urged residents to address the problem of poor waste handling, self-inflicted flooding, overgrown vegetation, open defecation, indiscriminate waste dumping, and other forms of environmental nuisance in their communities.
Mrs. Sanwo-Olu, represented by Mrs. Modupe Akewusola, spoke at the Year 2022 award ceremony of sanitation competition among Local Councils / Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) in Ikeja, Lagos.
She said the initiative was put together to encourage local and community participation in community cleanliness and to build synergy between various Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of government, public institutions, sector leaders, youths, and private sectors towards sanitation and hygiene best practices.
According to her, the competition was initiated to identify and recognise the cleanest local council, markets, Primary Health Centres (PHCs), and MDAs and to raise awareness of the need to ensure a clean and healthy environment in Lagos State.
She reiterated the need for stakeholders to support the government’s efforts by disposing of waste properly, patronise Private Sector Partnership (PSP) operators, practicing waste sorting from source, reusing and recycling, and stopping open defecation.
In his remarks, the state’s commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Mr. Tunji Bello, said the yearly competition was resuscitated in 2021, after canceling the monthly environmental sanitation in 2016 through a judicial pronouncement.
According to him, the competition was instituted to spur actions from local authorities and communities towards a healthy and sustainable environment; and to raise people’s consciousness on the need to prioritise sanitation in their various communities.
Bello, however, expressed displeasure at the disposition of many local council administrations to their responsibilities, as it relates to environmental management vis-a-vis solid waste management, tertiary drains maintenance and vegetal nuisances, particularly on the highways and major roads across the state.
He said more still needs to be done if Lagos must not return to the notorious days of mountains of refuse, stressing that local councils should increase their contributions towards waste management in the state, despite the recognition.
In his contribution, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA), Ibrahim Odumboni, urged tenements to embrace proper waste management practices.
Odumboni, represented by LAWMA’s Executive Director of Finance, Mr. Kunle Adeniyi, stressed the need for residents to patronise assigned PSP operators and buying of waste bins, stressing that waste management is a collective responsibility.
Meanwhile, Epe Local Council, Yaba and Eredo LCDAs were yesterday, rewarded with a Nissan Sport Utility Van (SUV) Pick-up each, for emerging as the cleanest councils in the state.
Yaba LCDA was named winner/recipient of the first prize in the metropolitan category, while Eredo LCDA and Epe won in the sub-urban and urban categories respectively.
