Lagos residents in dozens of districts have gone weeks or months without refuse collection, even as households and property owners pay monthly service charges. Garbage clogs streets, markets and drainage channels across the state, disrupting travel and business and exposing residents to potential health risks.
The crisis challenges Lagos’s image as a safe, clean megacity and gateway to West Africa. People have reported refuse in Mushin, Ebute Metta, Agege, Egbeda, Idimu, Ojuelegba, Mile 2, Orile, Apapa, Okokomaiko, Ajah, parts of Lekki, Lawanson, Ikeja, Bariga, Surulere, Agegunle, Boundary, Ojo, Ikorodu, Festac Town, Satellite Town, Ikotun, Oshodi, Iyana-Iba, Alaba, Isolo and Abule Egba.
In some places, waste spills onto roads and blocks drains. Traffic suffers. Motorists, pedestrians and businesses must navigate the obstruction, while decomposing refuse gives off offensive odours. Residents pay for a service that, in several neighbourhoods, hasn't arrived on schedule.
Who Is Responsible
The Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) sets policy and oversees accredited Private Sector Participants (PSPs), which collect household and commercial waste in assigned districts and local government areas. Operators should collect residential refuse at least once a week. Residents and property owners pay monthly charges for that service.
PSP operators point to rising diesel costs, vehicle maintenance and long distances to disposal sites. State authorities have acknowledged operational bottlenecks, underperforming operators and truck shortages. The article says LAWMA and Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources Tokunbo Wahab haven't properly monitored PSP operators, while many operators' trucks are in poor condition and prone to breakdowns.
Lagos generates between 13,000 and 15,000 tonnes of municipal waste daily, according to Wahab. Delays at disposal facilities can slow truck turnaround, disrupt collection schedules and leave refuse piling up in neighbourhoods, he said.
A Recurring Breakdown
The current conditions recall the 2015–2019 waste crisis, when major roads, markets and drainage channels became dumping grounds amid infrastructure and operational problems. In 2017, then Governor Akinwunmi Ambode's administration brought in Visionscape to modernise waste collection and evacuation across the state.
Visionscape struggled to meet expectations. Refuse remained piled up, and LAWMA personnel were unhappy after their role was significantly reduced. Residents faced an increasingly filthy city. The episode showed how a change in the waste-management arrangement could disrupt collection as agencies and operators argued over how the system should work.
The state government has tried to clear refuse black spots and brought back monthly sanitation exercises, but the article says conditions appeared unchanged. Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu recently directed an immediate scale-up of waste evacuation. He said LAWMA, the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA) and the Ministry of Environment were working around the clock.
"We have deployed extra trucks and personnel to clear the backlogs across all affected neighbourhoods. You should already see progress on the streets, and we will not stop until our city is completely clean again," Sanwo-Olu said. He urged residents to dispose of waste properly and not dump it in drains or on roads.
Plans and Public Costs
Wahab acknowledged that residents hadn't received satisfactory collection services, while rejecting the suggestion that the government response was limited to emergency evacuation. He said the state was pursuing modern transfer loading stations, material recovery facilities, recycling, composting and the Epe waste-to-energy project.
The state is also strengthening contractor monitoring with property enumeration, geocoded service locations, GPS tracking, weighbridge measurements, collection records and recovery data. Operators found underperforming face sanctions or termination, Wahab said.
Accumulated refuse can create breeding grounds for rats, flies, cockroaches and mosquitoes, which can contribute to malaria, cholera and typhoid. Sharp or contaminated materials can cause injuries and infections. Rain can wash waste into rivers, wells and other water sources; chemicals can contaminate soil, and open burning can release pollutants that worsen respiratory conditions.
The article calls for transparent monitoring, adequate financing and contracts tied to measurable performance. Service charges linked to visible improvements could help sustain collection, while private investment and external partnerships could support larger infrastructure projects. The immediate test is whether the responsible agencies and paid operators can deliver routine collection before refuse overwhelms the streets again.