SANWO OLU OKAYS RETURN OF MONTLY ENVIRONMENTAL SANITATION IN LAGOS

By Olayiwiola Ibrahim // The Lagos State Government has announced the reintroduction of the Monthly Environmental Sanitation Exercise, beginning April 25, 2026.

According to the Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, movement across the state will be restricted between 6:30 a.m. and 8:30 a.m.

This policy revives an old practice that many believed Lagos had outgrown.

In the past, these exercises hardly made the megacity cleaner.

Instead, they often turned into two hours of forced inactivity, streets deserted, businesses shut, and in many neighbourhoods youths simply took over the empty roads to play football.

For a cosmopolitan city of over 20 million people, this approach feels outdated.

Modern cities do not shut down economic life in the name of sanitation.

They rely on strict enforcement of environmental laws, efficient waste management systems, scheduled waste collection, and stiff penalties for violators.

Closing down a city like Lagos, even for two hours, has ripple effects.

It disrupts aviation schedules, event logistics, transportation networks, and commercial activities, many of which depend on early-morning mobility.

For a city that prides itself as West Africa’s commercial hub, such blanket restrictions send the wrong signal.

Environmental cleanliness is essential. But the solution should be institutional efficiency, not periodic lockdowns.

If Lagos truly wants a cleaner city, it should strengthen environmental enforcement, upgrade waste infrastructure, and hold offenders accountable, rather than reverting to a policy that belongs to another era.

Someone should also remind the Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, that this is 2026.

Reintroducing a policy rooted in the past is not only unnecessary, it is counterproductive for a modern megacity striving to compete globally.