LAGOS RESTATES ZERO TOLERANCE FOR BLOCKING ROADS, DRAINAGES WITH BUILDING MATERIALS

Lagos State Government on Sunday restated it’s zero tolerance for construction sites discharging or placing materials on the roads and along drainage channels and prevalence of shanties along the Rights of Way, saying perpetrators will face the consequences.

Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab restated the warning while leading state officials on inspection of some on-going projects in Central Lagos, LAWMA Transfer loading station at Simpson street and VGC in Ajah.

In his words: “We have made it clear that construction sites responsible for these violations will be stopped and made to pay penalties for forcing the government to deploy resources to address their infractions”

He said the state will not relent in removing illegal structures wherever they spring up, urging media partners to come up with suggestions for stricter measures for carrying out removals if they have it.

“We have to keep carrying out these removals. If you have other suggestions for stricter measures, please share them with us. If you dont know the numbers, I can share them with you. We take people to court every day in this state, except Saturdays and Sundays. Every day, we take people to court”

He reiterated the belief of the present administration that there must be consequences for bad behaviours. “That is our mantra. If we have regulations and laws, what distinguishes us from developed countries is our willingness to attach consequences to bad behaviour”.

“People come into Lagos daily from different cultural backgrounds to settle here. That is why we have the Lagos State Residents Registration Agency (LASRRA) to register residents and enable us to account for them. However, when we push this narrative, some people accuse us of being elitist. It has become a chicken-and-egg situation: which comes first?”, he explained.

Speaking on LAWMA’s readiness to tackle indiscriminate waste dumping, he expressed the belief that the roadmap towards achieving our vision as a state is on course.

He explained that the vision involves transitioning from a linear waste management system to one in which waste becomes a resource.

“We are almost there. The trucks have been shipped, while material recovery facilities and transfer loading stations are ongoing. If we already have one or two transfer loading stations in the state, what are we doing with them?”, the Commissioner asked rhetorically.

The Commissioner said he led the officials to pay an unscheduled to the Simpson Transfer loading station to have a first experience of what is going on there.

He announced that unannounced visits will become a regular feature of the Ministry to its agencies.

He said during the visit to the Transfer loading station, the ministry was briefed by the Executive Director and head of operations were there furnished the state government with a roadmap and an update on the infrastructure.

“These are some of the things we will be doing henceforth. We will be paying unannounced visits to managing directors of agencies under the ministry to ascertain what they are doing”, Wahab added.

The team from the Ministry also returned to the area where it was working to regenerate Lagos Island and inspected the new infrastructure, checking the systems from Drop-in Extension 1 to 4.

“We also saw some of the equipment at work and gave instructions to ramp up preparations ahead of the next rainy season”.

The team also paid a visit to the Victoria Garden City where petitions were received about about unusual flooding mlamd measures to address the challenge.

On the rehabilitation going on on the Lekki Epe Expressway, Wahab urged residents to bear with the state through the inconvenience, adding that it is expected to be carried out in phases to minimise distruption to lives and properties.

Prominent among those who joined the Commissioner were the Special Adviser on the Environment, Engr Kunle Rotimi- Akodu, Perm Secs, Environmental Services, Gaji Omobolaji Tajudeen and Drainage Services, Engr Olakunle Adegbite, General Manager, LASWMO, Engr Femi Afolabi and Executive Secretary, LAWRECO, Mrs Khadijat Adeyemo and directors from the Ministry.

 

Signed
Kunle Adeshina
Director (Public Affairs)
MOE&WR
October 18, 2026