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| Lagos Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu |
Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has issued a 72-hour ultimatum to occupants of shanties and makeshift structures erected on the median of the Lagos-Badagry Expressway to vacate the area or face eviction.
The governor gave the directive on Saturday after leading the monthly environmental sanitation exercise across communities in Surulere Local Government Area.
Sanwo-Olu was accompanied by his wife, Dr Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu, during the exercise, which forms part of the state government's renewed campaign to promote environmental cleanliness and proper waste management across Lagos.
Addressing journalists after the exercise, the governor said enforcement officials would begin clearing all illegal structures on the expressway median from next week.
According to him, the exercise will cover the stretch from Orile-Iganmu to Okokomaiko, stressing that the government would not allow the corridor, which serves as an international gateway, to degenerate into a slum.
"This is the final notice to everyone occupying the median of the Lagos-Badagry Expressway. From next week, we are coming to clear the entire median. Everything there will go. Every illegal structure will be removed," Sanwo-Olu said.
"It is not meant to be a market. It is not meant to be a place where people erect structures. It is a highway median, and we must preserve it, especially considering the huge public investment on that corridor.
"It is a 10-lane highway built with taxpayers' money. I will not fold my arms and allow anyone to turn that international gateway into a slum. This is an official notice to everyone on that corridor. We are commencing the exercise next week, and thousands of personnel will be deployed."
The governor also announced plans to strengthen the state's waste management system with the addition of 150 compactors to its waste collection fleet.
He added that waste tricycles would be deployed to inner communities to improve waste collection in areas inaccessible to larger compactors.
Sanwo-Olu further disclosed that the state was investing in long-term waste processing infrastructure, including a modern material recovery and recycling facility expected to process about 4,250 metric tonnes of waste daily.
He urged residents to support the government's sanitation efforts by disposing of waste properly and paying their waste collection bills promptly.
"Waste management is not the responsibility of government alone. It is a collective responsibility," he said.
"Residents must also play their part by paying for waste collection services. That is what enables the PSP operators to continue providing efficient services."
The governor also encouraged parents to inculcate environmental sanitation habits in their children, noting that cleanliness and environmental discipline should be nurtured from an early age.
According to him, maintaining a clean environment remains essential to building a healthier and more sustainable Lagos.
Meanwhile, the Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, said the state government had begun transitioning from its old waste disposal model to a more sustainable waste management system.
Speaking during an inspection of the Olusosun Landfill after the sanitation exercise, Wahab said Lagos could no longer sustain the traditional "collect and dump" approach to waste management.
He explained that the Olusosun facility would serve as a transfer loading station, conveying about 2,500 metric tonnes of waste daily to a material recovery facility under construction in Ikorodu.
"This place will be one of the transfer loading stations that will move about 2,500 metric tonnes of waste daily to the material recovery facility in Ikorodu. The target is for the facility to commence operations before the end of the year," he said.
"We cannot continue with the linear waste management system we have practised for over four decades, which simply means collecting and dumping waste. That model is no longer sustainable. Even aside from climate concerns, we simply do not have enough land."
He said the state's new approach was aimed at converting waste into valuable resources for wealth creation, energy generation and other productive uses.
Wahab appealed to residents to cooperate with the government as it continues implementing reforms to improve waste management and environmental sustainability across the state.