WHY CAN’T OUR CITY STREETS BE CLEAN: ARE LAGOSIAN DIRTY OR IS OUR ETHIC ERODING FINALLY

 

 

Imo’toto lo le se’gun arun gbogbo,

Imo’toto lo le se’gun arun gbogbo,

Imo’toto ile; imo’toto ara,

Imo’toto lo le se’gun arun gbogbo.

Imo’toto lo le se’gun arun gbogbo,

Imo’toto lo le se’gun arun gbogbo,

Imo’toto ile; imo’toto ara,

Imo’toto lo le se’gun arun gbogbo.

 

(ENGLISH TRANSLATION BY DELE AJAJA)

Sanitation is the antidote against all infections,

Sanitation is the antidote against all infections,

Home sanitation; personal hygiene,

Sanitation is the antidote against all infections.

Sanitation is the antidote against all infections,

Sanitation is the antidote against all infections,

Home sanitation; personal hygiene,

Sanitation is the antidote against all infections.

 

For a Mega City, Lagos is dirty and it’s becoming dirtier every day.  Before you start to put the blame on government read what famous columnist Lucy Alexander wrote about New York in October 2020: “For a World-Class City New York is shockingly dirty. Why can’t anyone clean it up?” So why is some World Class City Dirty?. Can we say like New York like Lagos?.

 

 

From the luxurious Banana Island, to the prime area of Park View, from the planned areas of Victoria Island to the sub-urban area of Surulere to the slum areas of Ajegunle and Makoko. The narrative about cleanliness of the State isn’t too far off from each other. From the rural areas of Ikorodu, Epe and Badagry, the entire landscape of Lagos is filthy, messy, grubby, grimy, unsanitary and bedraggled. The question that comes to my mind everyday is ‘how did we got here ?.  Look at the picture above and see Lagos in the 70s and compare with Lagos now (left to right). Whilst we known cities are melting points of business, but that does not mean they should be dirty. The push and pull factor is one of the major contributor to the poor sanitation situation in Lagos. Today, nobody knows exactly how many people live in Lagos, an important variable used to determine waste generation. Every week tens of thousands of people arrive in Lagos, heading to neighborhoods where urban planning and proper infrastructure are not fully ready. Wherever humans are settled, generation of waste is inevitable, thereon they interact with the city centre, adopt unimaginable waste disposal habits and methods thus compounding the sanitation of the city centre.       

 

One major factor responsible for the poor sanitation in the streets of Lagos is lack of discipline. Today, people dispose every form of waste anywhere in Lagos. From major roads to the inner streets, from house hold drains to major canals waste are inevitable. People see open spaces as dumping points. Also, fly-tipping is common both in rural areas and high class areas like Lekki and Ikoyi. It baffles me every morning when I see people opening the car trunk (boot) and dump waste by road side or on open land. It is prevalent in Lekki axis that most perpetrators even take up fight with good citizens who challenge them of the erroneous act.     

 

 

However, it is the discipline instilled in the minds of citizens from an early age that helps maintain cleanliness in a city or country. Our public spaces are allowed to get as dirty as possible with the mindset that some sweepers or cleaners are bound to come and clear the rubbish. That is his or her job. After all, he must be getting paid to do the work. Thus this believe gives us every right to throw plastic bottles, bits of paper and whatever we do not need, anywhere and everywhere particularly on the road. Drains along roads are public dustbins and that is where we deposit our waste, no matter if the drain gets blocked or choked and the dirty water overflows on to our doorsteps. We have every right to sweep our shops and throw the dirty stuff into the drain running alongside the road leading to our home. After all, most homes are dirty than the gutter or drains in front of them.

 

Spotless streets: A reality or mirage for Lagos?

What makes a city clean or what is the mystery of cleaner cities around the world? Apparently, it is not because litter is removed quietly and secretly on dark nights when the whole world sleeps, nor is it because the rubbish is not made to vanish magically by helpful wizards, nor do aliens carry the garbage to research on what constitutes the filth found on the streets of planet earth. It is the discipline that is entrenched into the hearts of every citizen in that country, establishment of an integrated waste management framework and implementation of policies and laws. For Nigerians most especially Lagosians, discipline is a diamond that cannot be found with a poor man. It is baffling and surprising that the act of dirtiness is not only common to the poor but the rich are also as dirty as the poor.

What will it take us to have a clean city ?

It is the goal of every city manager to provide a clean and pleasant environment for its citizens to live and work. However, the attitude and lifestyle of citizens contribute a great amount to how clean a city will be. So for Lagos to be clean, we need to go back to our cultural integration of inculcating hygiene and proper sanitation into our daily lifestyle. From Mosques to Churches, the campaign to make Lagos a litter free State must be the next big thing like Big Brother Nigeria. Every social media must be used to propagate the campaign. Today, an estimate of over US$3 billion is lost yearly in Nigeria due to poor sanitation. In Sub-Saharan Africa, 2 million children die annually due to WASH-related disease, estimate not precise counts.        

So, what can we do about it?

1. Recognize: First, we need to recognize that this problem is bigger than what government alone can solve. Litter and cleanliness needs to be part of our cultural rebirth. We cannot develop the next generation in this dirty culture and let them see it as a norm.    

2. Take Action: As Lagosian, resident or transit. We all need to chip in and clean our city. We need to make sure our trash bins are able to close so trash doesn’t get carried everywhere with the wind. As business owners, homeowners and even government, we cannot continue to sweep into sidewalks, drains and canals. And of course, we can commit to never littering. I try to pick up one piece of paper every day to help out, use the bin and make the place clean. But, what if hundreds of people picked up just one piece of paper in the city? Do you think this would help?. Do you think this would begin a movement to make people more aware of their surroundings and inspire them to help out too?

3. Make a Campaign: Back in the 1980’s there was a campaign across the country called “War Against Indiscipline” The campaign strived to ending littering, improve orderliness and make our society better. This program could include a similar message as in the 1980’s. We could begin by putting signs up such as “Don’t litter!” or “Pick up a piece of paper for our city.!”

4.  Citizen Enforcement: We can’t wait for government enforcement again. We need to activate citizen enforcement. We need to introduce the mechanism of whistle-blower into environmental enforcement.   

Finally, it’s very easy to complain about our cleanliness. It’s also easy to blame government. In the meantime, we can commit as citizens to not be part of the problem, but part of the solution and help clean our city where we can.

Join the campaign for a litter free Lagos.

© ladedoyin