In order to improve environmental cleanliness throughout Lagos State, Dr Muyiwa Gbadegesin, the managing director/CEO of the Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA), has urged citizens and business organisations to adopt streets and communities as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).
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Speaking on Channels TV’s “Sunrise” and Lagos Television’s “The Conversation,” Dr. Gbadegesin underlined the value of community involvement in preserving sanitation and urged both individuals and companies to take a more active role in keeping their surrounding environments clean. “One great option for organisations to make a significant contribution to the city’s cleanliness initiatives is to adopt a street or community.
It involves more than just setting out trash cans; it involves being accountable for the upkeep and cleanliness of entire neighbourhoods. According to Dr. Gbadegesin, this effort will also function as a potent CSR approach that will help the organisations engaged as well as the environment.
Speaking further, he emphasised that community sanitation activities might be used to counteract the negative environmental behaviours that contributed to the recent cholera outbreak, such as open defecation and unlawful waste disposal.
“This is what we should be teaching our children—sanitation should be a daily habit, ingrained in our culture,” he continued. Speaking about the ongoing community cleanup initiative spearheaded by the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources and LAWMA, he declared, “Yes, the monthly cleaning exercise will be returning. Right now, we are focussing on sensitisation. We are visiting different communities, interacting with regional stakeholders, and attending to the concerns of the local populace.
The head of LAWMA announced that the organisation was continuing its “Adopt a Bin” campaign, which aims to motivate families to properly containerise their waste. “Home trash management is being revolutionised by the new LAWMA smart bins. Every house should have a container of its own, so that homeowners may more easily contain their waste.
We have established a 24-month installment plan to make this accessible. These dumpsters are unique because of their clever technology: Each trash can has a geolocation feature and an RFID tag. This guarantees that our personnel are providing effective service by tracking when the bins are empty,” he emphasised. The state government’s partnership with the private sector to improve waste disposal facilities was also highlighted by Gbadegesin.
She mentioned that LAWMA was collaborating with local government authorities to establish community recycling centres, which would give residents a designated area to dispose of recyclables and receive incentives. Another example of this collaboration was a memorandum of understanding with Jospong Group to construct material recovery facilities and modern landfills in Lagos. “We are teaching the next generation about the value of recycling and the importance of maintaining a clean environment,” he added in reference to LAWMA Academy.
We will be opening a portal for online programs with certification on the LAWMA Academy website in the coming months in addition to our ongoing one-month summer school.
He reiterated LAWMA’s dedication to enhancing the welfare of street sweepers and mentioned that the organisation was putting its sweepers’ health insurance and skill development initiatives into action.
