Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has hinted at the likely return of the state-wide monthly sanitation exercise, expressing displeasure with the continued disregard for environmental laws, especially by those trading by the roadside and under the bridges across the state.
The governor said this Friday while conducting an inspection
to check for adherence to the government’s environmental cleaning measures in
various parts of the state.
The governor underlined his displeasure over the ongoing
flouting of environmental regulations, particularly those dealing with trading
along roadsides and under bridges.
He reiterated that his government would tolerate no unlawful
trading on any of the city’s roadways, bridges, or abutments.
Commercial bus drivers were also asked by Sanwo-Olu to
behave themselves and remain in the garages assigned to them.
“We need to do a bit of road clean up, but business owners
in the areas we visited have given their commitment to henceforth keep their
environment clean at all times,” he said.
“We also went under the Apongbon Bridge to see what is
happening there, especially given the unfortunate incident of last year. Let me
reiterate the government’s zero-tolerance policy for trading under the bridges
in Lagos.
“Our commercial bus drivers also need to comport themselves,
they need to organise themselves and stay within the parking garages that have
been allocated to them. The ones at Apongbon are well-behaved, and we hope they
will continue like this.
“This exercise will continue next week as hope to reach
every part of the city to tell our people why we need to clean up and ensure
the regeneration of our neighbourhood.
“I will also be consulting with the Ministry of Environment
to see if it’s possible to re-introduce the monthly environmental sanitation so
we can bring back the sanity of a liveable city that we used to know. We have
seen a lot of lopsidedness and recklessness, and we need to curtail all abuses
on our environment. We will work out a model to sustain our zero tolerance on
environmental and transportation infractions.”
The governor moved from Marina to Orile Iganmu, Alaba Suru,
Mile 2, and down to Apongbon. He was accompanied by Commissioners Tokunbo Wahab
(Environment); Gbenga Omotoso (Information and Strategy); Seun Osiyemi
(Transportation); and Sola Giwa (SA Transport), among other government
functionaries.