NIGERIA: Lagos To Resume Monthly Sanitation Exercise April 25 After Nine-Year Suspension

By Ameenat Hamzat, Lagos, Nigeria

The Lagos State Government says the monthly environmental sanitation exercise will resume on April 25, ending a nine-year suspension.

The announcement was made on Saturday by the Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, shortly after the state governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, and Deputy Governor Obafemi Hamzat carried out a symbolic street cleaning to mark the return of the exercise.

The state-wide sanitation programme was suspended in November 2016 following a ruling by the Court of Appeal (Nigeria), which held that restricting residents’ movement during sanitation hours violated citizens’ rights to personal liberty and freedom of movement.

Before the suspension, the exercise was conducted on the last Saturday of every month between 7 a.m. and 10 a.m.

However, Wahab said the exercise will now hold on the last Saturday of every month from 6:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m.

He urged residents across Lagos State to take part in the exercise by cleaning their surroundings, clearing drainage channels in front of their homes and disposing waste properly.

Wahab said: “This exercise is a collective responsibility and a vital part of our commitment to a cleaner, healthier and flood-resilient Lagos. It will be backed with the full enforcement weight of the Lagos State Government.”

The commissioner described the decision to reintroduce the sanitation exercise as an “audacious step,” noting that the state government spent over a year consulting stakeholders before restoring the programme.

The sanitation exercise will officially resume on April 25 and continue on the last Saturday of every

month thereafter.