The Lagos State Government has declared that the monthly environmental sanitation exercise will hold on Saturday, May 30, despite the Sallah celebrations scheduled for the week, as part of intensified efforts to keep the state clean and healthy.
Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Mr. Tokunbo Wahab, made this known on Sunday during the ministerial press briefing on the achievements of Governor Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu’s administration in the third year of its second term.
Wahab said the Eid-el-Kabir festivities, usually characterised by increased waste generation from the slaughtering of rams and other activities, made it necessary for residents to participate fully in the sanitation exercise.
The commissioner urged Lagosians to maintain proper hygiene and dispose of waste responsibly during and after the celebrations.
According to him, the state government has intensified environmental sanitation and enforcement activities through agencies under the ministry, including the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency, LASEPA, Lagos Waste Management Authority, LAWMA, Lagos State Parks and Gardens Agency, LASPARK, and the Kick Against Indiscipline, KAI, brigade.
Wahab disclosed that the government removed 137,530.94 kilogrammes of plastic bottles from the environment within the last one year, while recyclable materials recovered during the period stood at 185,850.72 kilogrammes.
He further revealed that LASPARK planted 16,966 trees across the five divisions of the state — Ikeja, Badagry, Ikorodu, Lagos Island and Epe — with 13,572 of the trees successfully established.
On enforcement activities, the commissioner said the KAI brigade arrested 6,789 persons for highway crossing and failure to use pedestrian bridges, while 3,786 others were apprehended for offences including illegal street trading, environmental pollution and cart pushing.
He added that the Sanwo-Olu administration was strengthening measures to transform the over 13,000 metric tonnes of waste generated daily in Lagos into economic opportunities through recycling and waste-to-resource initiatives instead of reliance on landfill disposal.
Wahab also noted that Lagos was recognised for the second consecutive time as a top-performing state in climate governance due to its environmental sustainability initiatives and climate adaptation programmes.