By: Folorunso Fatai Adisa
What role will you play in Lagos’ fight against filth and disorder? Lagos is waking up. Commissioner Tokunbo Wahab’s bold leadership is transforming Lagos from a city weighed down by complacency into a model of urban discipline. From clearing notorious illegal dumpsites in Ketu to shutting down markets that defy sanitation laws, Lagos is sending an unmistakable message: filth and disorder will no longer be tolerated.
Clean cities do not happen by accident. They are made by vision, will, and people who refuse to look away. Like security, cleanliness is not the job of government alone. It begins with small actions: not tossing plastic into gutters, not turning medians into trash heaps, and never staying silent when others pollute. Silence is complicity. A dirty city is the sum total of citizen apathy. But Lagos is rewriting that script.
Recently, a notorious illegal dumpsite behind 68 Oduntan Street, Ketu, hidden in plain sight, was busted and cleared by LAWMA officers. The site, once a breeding ground for disease, is now under surveillance. Disorder will no longer be allowed to fester.
At Afolabi Ege Market, traders ignored repeated warnings and defied the mandatory Thursday sanitation exercise. Refuse piled up while business continued as usual. Now, the market and its fruit section are shut indefinitely. Reopening will require thorough cleaning, compliance training, and a new hygiene regime. There will be no more profit made on filth.
In Agege and Alimosho, thirteen individuals were caught defecating and urinating in public. There was no fine, no slap on the wrist. They were prosecuted and sentenced to three months in prison. Just the law, clear and firm.
These actions mark a cultural reset, a city-wide shift where order is non-negotiable, civic pride is collective, and enforcement is visionary rebranding. Lagos is no longer simply sweeping dirt off the streets; it is sweeping in a new consciousness.
But this transformation requires more than government effort, it demands all hands on deck. Let us all play our part, not as silent witnesses, but as proud custodians of Lagos’ new environmental dawn.
