Idowu Abdullahi
Eight years after the monthly environmental sanitation was cancelled following a resolution adopted at the State Executive Council meeting, the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has approved its reintroduction.
This was disclosed by the state Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, adding that the State Executive Council also gave its approval for the introduction of the monthly exercise.
He, however, said the sanitation which would commence in July, would be officially announced by the governor soon.
“Lagos governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, and the state executive council have approved the re-introduction of the monthly sanitation.
“The governor will announce it officially for the exercise to commence this month,” Wahab, who spoke in Yoruba language, said in a 21-second clip shared on the Lagos State Environmental Update page on X.
The PUNCH Healthwise reports that the monthly environmental sanitation exercise was stopped in the state in 2016.
The government said the exercise, which used to be held for three hours on the last Saturday of every month with restrictions on movement, needed to go to pave the way for a much-needed reform.
The then Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Steve Ayorinde, in a statement, said the decision to cancel the monthly exercise followed a resolution adopted at the State Executive Council meeting.
“Lagos has grown exponentially with the attendant environmental problems associated with managing 20 million people. The environmental laws and procedures being practised in the state have not been able to match the growth and the dream of a 24-hour economy,” Ayorinde had said.
However, the reintroduction of the monthly environmental sanitation may not be unconnected to the recent flooding affecting some major parts of Lagos due to incessant rain.
PUNCH Healthwise reports that business and commercial activities were grounded on July 3, 2024, following a 10-hour downpour in many parts of Lagos and Ogun states.
The resulting flooding brought down a two-storey building in the Mushin area of Lagos, grounded vehicular movement on the roads and overwhelmed thousands of residents while pupils could not attend schools in parts of the states.
Though the Lagos State Government said the rain lasted for nine hours, in some parts of the state, it started at midnight and did not subside until noon, making it 12 hours.
Such places include Berger, Ikeja, Ogba and in some parts, the rain lasted for 10 hours.
Our correspondents, who visited some affected flooded areas such as Iyana-Oworo, Agege, Ijegun-Isheri Osun, Gbagada, and Lagos Island in Lagos State, observed that roads and houses were flooded as a result of long hours of downpour.
Other flooded places in Lagos include Eredo, Bojije, Epe, Sangotedo, Ibeju-Lekki, Awoyaya, Labora, and Abijon.
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