LAWMA, street sweepers and the burden of climate migrants, By Feyisola Smith

…he urged the public to be aware of what might be driving some of these complaints that are increasing on social media, because “we’re moving into a political space now. This is two years to 2027. So you’re going to see a lot of this,” Gbadegesin stated. As such, the activities of naysayers should not be overlooked, particularly as we are entering into a political season in which discontent – as expressed in some videos – is being weaponised to discredit the government.

Lagos as one of the ten fastest growing megalopolises in the world, has a growing population that can be conservatively put at between 20 and 25 million people, with about 6,000 new arrivals daily, drawn in by its economic promise. This signals a humonguous volume of waste generation, put at about 15,000 metric tonnes per day and close to six million tons anually. This is quite a huge undertaking to manage, of which the authority in charge appears to be rendering a good account of itself, in spite of a few issues that come up intermittently.

Recently, a few videos have emerged casting aspersions on the valiant efforts of the waste management establishment in Lagos, with one from an alleged sweeper, castigating officials of the Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) for not caring about their welfare, and yet another one by a Youth Corps member claiming that Lagos is a smelling city-state. Both were deserving of official response, which finally came.

In the first instance, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of LAWMA, Dr Muyiwa Gbadegesin, has offered clarifications to the complaints of the street sweeper – which was also amplified by social media critics – about the seemingly poor wages and working conditions of these workers.

Speaking a few days ago during an interview on the TVC programme, Your View, he addressed the concerns raised by the first video, and then the second one, which have both gone viral. In the initial video, a woman is seen passionately lamenting the poor wages and difficult working conditions of street sweepers, while equally pleading for interventions to ameliorate their situation.

However, according to the LAWMA boss, the person in the video is no longer part of LAWMA’s street-sweeping programme, having left several months ago. And, secondly, Gbadegesin pointed out that sweepers under the programme are actually part-time workers, and not full-time government employees. They are contracted to do the job by companies working for LAWMA, and are not direct staff members of the agency, as many erroneously think.

Even at that, Gbadegesin elucidated that the workers are not only accorded welfare benefits that accrue to government staff, besides the regular minimum wage adjustments and access to health care, but they are also the targets of empowerment schemes designed to enhance their incomes. Currently, he noted that sweepers earn ₦40,000 for four hours of work daily, which, if scaled to full-time work, would certainly exceed the national minimum wage at ₦70,000 per month.

Beyond wages, as Gbadegesin pointed out, LAWMA is also implementing biometric registration for the sweepers through the Lagos State Residents Registration Agency (LASRRA) to facilitate their access to health insurance (ILERA EKO) and other social support programmes. In addition, the support for boosting their livelihoods being explored by the agency includes the provision of tools for those engaged in businesses like hairdressing.

“If they were full-time staff, at that rate they would be making N80,000 a month, which is N10,000 above the national minimum wage. So it’s untrue that…the government doesn’t care about them,” Gbadegesin stated. Still, the sweepers are being positioned for support in pursuing other alternate vocations, after their day’s jobs, which would complement and enhance their incomes.

He further noted that, “the street-sweeping programme is a flagship initiative of LAWMA, and the government has consistently prioritised the welfare of the sweepers. We recently introduced health checkups, and upon discovering that some sweepers had vision problems, we arranged for free cataract surgeries.”

Beyond wages, as Gbadegesin pointed out, LAWMA is also implementing biometric registration for the sweepers through the Lagos State Residents Registration Agency (LASRRA) to facilitate their access to health insurance (ILERA EKO) and other social support programmes. In addition, the support for boosting their livelihoods being explored by the agency includes the provision of tools for those engaged in businesses like hairdressing.

In terms of the concerns expressed by the sweepers, the LAWMA honcho acknowledged the possibility of their having issues with the vendor companies managing them, and he pledged continued investigation of any claims of their being shortchanged, as they have been doing.

However, he urged the public to be aware of what might be driving some of these complaints that are increasing on social media, because “we’re moving into a political space now. This is two years to 2027. So you’re going to see a lot of this,” Gbadegesin stated. As such, the activities of naysayers should not be overlooked, particularly as we are entering into a political season in which discontent – as expressed in some videos – is being weaponised to discredit the government.

Equally, the LAWMA boss staunchly defended the reputation of Lagos as one of Africa’s cleanest cities, despite the persistent challenges of waste management and intermittent odours in some parts of the metropolis.

While Gbadegesin admitted that Lagos is not immune to sanitation issues, he emphasised ongoing efforts to make it cleaner. “We’re not saying there aren’t issues anywhere,” he said, urging residents to stop dumping organic waste into drains. He noted that in spite of the concerns and challenges of dealing with increasing volumes of waste from different social actors, including swelling hordes of climate migrants, among others, LAWMA is committed to keep the cleanliness of Lagos its foremost priority.

This issue came to the fore recently through a viral video made by a youth corps member, Ushie Uguamaye, also known as Raye, in which she described the city-state as “smelling.” Although, following serious backlash for her comments, she has since recanted and apologised for appearing to talk down on the city.

Gbadegesin attributed some of the city’s quality of air and even sanitation issues to climate migration, while announcing plans to made to redress the situation through a more hands-on-deck approach to ridding the city of concerns around waste management and disposal in the sprawling megalopolis.

“Lagos is one of the cleanest cities on the African continent,” Gbadegesin asserted, citing the positive attestations of visitors during the last Detty December festivities. He however  acknowledged that challenges remain, particularly due to an influx of climate migrants. As he pointed out, LAWMA’s research shows that approximately one million people, who have been displaced by the encroaching Sahara Desert, now live in open spaces and under bridges across Lagos. These individuals, often working as day labourers, cart pushers, or scavengers, generate significant waste that overwhelms public spaces.

“They’re unaccounted for, and they contribute to waste in public areas,” Gbadegesin explained, linking their presence to issues like open defecation. He also pointed to the growing incidence of methane emissions from organic waste dumped into drainage channels as a strong contributor to the odours in the city, signalling broader climate concerns that the agency he leads is mapping out different strategies to contain.

While Gbadegesin admitted that Lagos is not immune to sanitation issues, he emphasised ongoing efforts to make it cleaner. “We’re not saying there aren’t issues anywhere,” he said, urging residents to stop dumping organic waste into drains. He noted that in spite of the concerns and challenges of dealing with increasing volumes of waste from different social actors, including swelling hordes of climate migrants, among others, LAWMA is committed to keep the cleanliness of Lagos its foremost priority.

Gbadegesin underscored the complex interplay across urban growth, climate change, and waste management in Lagos, with LAWMA redoubling its efforts through mitigating initiatives, which have been drawing both praise and calls for more action, as the city strives to entrench its status as one of Africa’s clean urban hubs.

Feyisola Smith writes from Abule Egba, Lagos.