{"id":20856,"date":"2026-03-15T05:40:21","date_gmt":"2026-03-15T05:40:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thenewsnow.org\/?p=20856"},"modified":"2026-03-15T05:42:36","modified_gmt":"2026-03-15T05:42:36","slug":"lagos-resumes-monthly-sanitation-exercise-urges-residents-compliance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thenewsnow.org\/index.php\/2026\/03\/15\/lagos-resumes-monthly-sanitation-exercise-urges-residents-compliance\/","title":{"rendered":"Lagos resumes monthly sanitation exercise, urges residents\u2019 compliance"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Lagos State<\/a> Government has reintroduced the monthly environmental sanitation exercise across the state as part of efforts to promote a cleaner and healthier environment.<\/p>\n

The sanitation exercise was suspended in 2016 following a court ruling that nullified the compulsory restriction of movement during sanitation hours. However, under the new arrangement, residents will not be subjected to any movement restriction.<\/p>\n

Speaking during a sensitisation programme held on Saturday along the Mushin\u2013Agege Motor Road corridor, organised by the Lagos State Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu announced that the monthly environmental sanitation exercise would commence on Saturday, April 25, 2026, and would hold on the last Saturday of every month from 6:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m.<\/p>\n

The governor appealed to residents to comply with the directive and take greater responsibility for maintaining a clean and healthy environment.<\/p>\n

He noted that the initiative represents a renewed effort by the state government to revive environmental consciousness among residents through voluntary participation and community action.<\/p>\n

\u201cA clean city is not achieved by government alone. It is built by the daily actions of the people who live in it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Sanwo-Olu<\/a> urged residents to be environmentally responsible, stressing that proper disposal of used materials, product packages, plastic bottles and wrappers can make a significant difference.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen waste is carelessly thrown on our streets or into our drains, it eventually returns to us in the form of flooding, environmental degradation and public health risks,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

The governor recalled that the monthly environmental sanitation exercise was once a nationwide practice observed on the last Saturday of every month, when Nigerians collectively cleaned their surroundings and cleared drainage channels.<\/p>\n

He explained that although the court ruling ended the movement restrictions that previously accompanied the exercise, the responsibility of maintaining a clean environment remains unchanged.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a government, we have always respected the rule of law and the authority of our courts. But while the enforcement mechanism changed, the responsibility to maintain a clean environment did not change. That responsibility remains with all of us,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

In his remarks, the Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, assured residents that the initiative would be backed by full enforcement by the state government.<\/p>\n

He urged residents to actively participate in cleaning their communities to help reduce the risk of disease outbreaks.<\/p>\n

Wahab added that agencies under the ministry, including the Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA)<\/a>, Lagos State Parks and Gardens Agency (LASPARK), Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA), and the Kick Against Indiscipline (KAI) brigade, would collaborate to strengthen the sanitation exercise and ensure a cleaner environment across the state.<\/p>\n

He also warned residents against illegal waste disposal, trading in undesignated places, crossing highways indiscriminately, burning refuse, sleeping on bridges, patronising cart pushers, and open defecation.<\/p>\n

Wahab<\/a> stressed that the Lagos State Environmental Protection Law of 2017 remains in force and that offenders would be prosecuted in accordance with the law.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Lagos State Government has reintroduced the monthly environmental sanitation exercise across the state as part of efforts to promote<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20857,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20856","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-from-the-grassroots"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thenewsnow.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20856","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thenewsnow.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thenewsnow.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thenewsnow.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thenewsnow.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20856"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/thenewsnow.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20856\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20860,"href":"https:\/\/thenewsnow.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20856\/revisions\/20860"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thenewsnow.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20857"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thenewsnow.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20856"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thenewsnow.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20856"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thenewsnow.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20856"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}