Sanwo-Olu orders shanty demolition along Lagos-Badagry Expressway, gives 72-hour quit notice

The Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, and his wife, Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu, on Saturday led the monthly environmental sanitation exercise across communities in Surulere Local Government Area of the state.

The exercise came as Sanwo-Olu issued a 72-hour ultimatum to occupants of shanties and makeshift structures along the median of the Lagos-Badagry Expressway.

Sanwo-Olu clearing refuse during the monthly environmental sanitation exercise on Saturday. Photo: Johnson Idowu

Addressing journalists after the exercise on Saturday, Sanwo-Olu said the state government enforcement team would be deployed to the area from next week to demolish the shanties.

The governor said the clearance exercise would cover the stretch from Orile-Iganmu to Okokomaiko, warning that all illegal structures along the corridor would be removed.

He said, “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.

“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’s a 10-lane highway that was built with the resources of our taxpayers. I will not fold my arms and allow them to turn that international gateway into a slum. This is a notice that I am giving officially to everybody on that corridor. We are starting next week, and we are going to deploy thousands of men there.”

Speaking on his administration’s waste management efforts, Sanwo-Olu said the state would soon add 150 compactors to its waste collection fleet, adding that waste tricycles would be deployed to inner communities to strengthen waste collection.

He noted that the state was also investing in long-term waste processing infrastructure, including a modern material recovery and recycling facility capable of processing about 4,250 metric tonnes of waste daily.

He, however, urged residents of the state to support the government’s efforts through responsible waste disposal and prompt payment of waste collection bills.

“Waste management is not the responsibility of government alone. It is a collective responsibility.

“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 concluded by encouraging parents to involve their children in sanitation activities to instil environmental responsibility from an early age, describing cleanliness as essential to building a healthier and more sustainable Lagos.

Meanwhile, during an inspection of the Olusosun Landfill after the exercise, the Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, said the linear waste management system was no longer sustainable, hence the commencement of the material recovery facility at the dumpsite.

He noted that the project was aimed at ensuring that waste collected across the state was converted into useful products.

“This place will be one of the transfer loading stations that will transfer about 2,500 metric tonnes of waste a day to the material recovery facility that will be located in Ikorodu. The target is for it to commence operations before the end of the year, so we just have to come and see what they are doing.

“We can’t sustain the linear waste management system that we have practised for over four decades, which simply means we have been used to collect and dump. Collect and dump cannot be sustainable. Even if we leave climate issues aside, we simply do not have the land for it.

“So let us make waste a resource—for wealth, for energy, and for many other purposes. That is the transition we are going through now.”

He urged Lagosians to bear with the government as it continues implementing the ongoing waste management reforms.

Sanwo-Olu orders shanty demolition along Lagos-Badagry Expressway, gives 72-hour quit notice

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