The Lagos State Government has urged the Local Government (LG) chairmen to work out modalities to tackle street trading and waste pollution for a cleaner environment.
The Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, Mr. Tokunbo Wahab, made this known in a meeting with all the chairmen at the Protea Hotel, Ikeja, on Wednesday, October 22, 2025.
While speaking with journalists after the meeting, Tokunbo said it was aimed at ensuring a cleaner environment in the state.
“We just had a meeting with all the LG chairmen, state wide, to work out a collaborative working relationship with respect to the environment, transport, drainage, street trading issues, and water management.
“The meeting is for us to have their input, and their input is to enable us to know where the gaps are so that we can collaborate with them at the local level.
“We need to also inject new life into the Lagos Waste Management Authority’s system. Hence, we appeal to our LG chairmen to assist,” he said.
The Chairman of Conference of 57 LG Chairmen, Mr. Sesan Olowa, in his reaction, appealed to the state government to partner more with the LGs at ensuring a cleaner environment.
“The major challenge here as to waste is collection and transportation. So, when you look at the value chain, you see a lot of gaps within it.
“In my local government, Ibeju-Lekki, we procured 20 tricycles, and the first two months, we were able to pick 12,000 bins of bags from our streets.
“So, we discovered that serious inefficiency within the value chain is a major challenge. LGs definitely have the capacity to clean up Lagos.
“But we won’t be able to clean Lagos if we don’t have where we take our waste to,” he said.
He added that the ministry should begin to look at how to create different hubs in Lagos where wastes can be taken to.
“Today, we have several youths across Lagos who are jobless, I think, if we have this waste management revolution, we can use it to create a lot of jobs for our youths.
“We need a lot of support from the state to work together,” he said.
While responding, Wahab assured the chairmen that the state would do everything in its power to ensure Lagos was free from environmental infractions.
Present at the meeting were LG and Local Council Development Area chairmen alongside management and staff of the Ministry of Environment and Water Resources.
By Olaitan Idris