Dirty Lagos: A shared failure in waste management (1)

By Layole Soffiyah

The declaration Lagos is dirty has become increasingly insistent, especially in 2025, as the city of over 22 million battles visible pollution across its waters, roads, and residential areas.

With Lagos generating an estimated 13,000–14,000 tonnes of waste daily, managing this volume is already immense, but the widening gap between government efforts and resident behaviour has pushed the city into a deeper environmental crisis.

An investigation into communities including Oshodi, Igando–Ikotun, Ojo, and Ikorodu reveals a complex web of blame, suggesting the crisis is a product of a shared failure, rooted in infrastructure deficits, inconsistent enforcement, and widespread public misconduct.

Conflicting realities across communities

In Oshodi, one of Lagos’s busiest commercial hubs, the dirt is widely expected. While LAWMA trucks reportedly visit three to four times weekly, residents offer conflicting explanations. Some shop owners firmly blame human behaviour, citing littering and the late-night or early-morning dumping of refuse by the roadside, even outside collection days.

Conversely, others firmly blame the government, demanding round-the-clock policing and the provision of more roadside bins.

A LAWMA staff, Comrade Sulaiman, insisted on daily visits, attributing the perceived mess to increased festive season waste volume.

He conceded that monitoring stops at night, enabling indiscriminate dumping, and called for greater cooperation from local governments to strengthen enforcement.

The situation shifts drastically in Igando–Ikotun and Ojo, where residents report service neglect.

Many stated that LAWMA has not visited their areas in over a year. In this service vacuum, households rely on informal "Aboki" truck pushers, who often worsen pollution by indiscriminately dumping waste along roadsides, into bushes, and canals.

Residents here admitted to individual carelessness but stressed the government’s failure to provide services or enforce strict rules, with one undergraduate stating she had never seen LAWMA collect waste in her three years in Ojo.

A resident from Ikorodu, Habeebah, explained that LAWMA only comes "once or twice a month," emphasizing that both parties are equally responsible.

She pointed to residents' poor waste management habits alongside the government's failure to provide alternatives and noted that a significant portion of Lagos lacks access to LAWMA services, underscoring the need for community enlightenment.

Another Ikorodu resident, Opeyemi, described inconsistent service, adding that officials once cited a directive to stop taking waste to the Ojota dump.

She blamed the government for inadequate rule enforcement and lack of proper management stipulations, while noting that residents worsen the problem by littering and urinating in open spaces.

A shared failure
The evidence across the communities visited confirms that Lagos’s waste problem has no single culprit.

In some areas, government agencies attempt services but fail to enforce compliance, rendering their efforts ineffective.

In other areas, the government is completely absent, forcing residents to improvise through unregulated, environmentally harmful alternatives.

Simultaneously, poor waste disposal habits among residents consistently undermine whatever systems exist.

The enduring waste crisis in Lagos is the product of a shared failure, combining inadequate government action, limited infrastructure, inconsistent enforcement, and widespread resident misconduct. Until both the authorities and the people commit to responsible waste management, Lagos will remain caught in the same cycle of dirt and pollution.