By Elizabeth Osayande 

The Lagos State Government has launched a Special Task Force to tackle indiscriminate waste dumping across the metropolis. Roads, bus stops, garages, and lay-bys have become hotspots for illegal dumping, and the state is done looking the other way.

This was disclosed by the Honourable Commissioner of Environment and Water Resources on his official Facebook page. 

According to him, as part of the initiative, members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, NURTW, and the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria, RTEAN, will now work directly with government agencies as “waste police.” Their job: monitor and report environmental violations in real time.

Government sets the tone  
Commissioner for Transportation, Mr. Oluwaseun Osiyemi, said the cleanup cannot work without collaboration. “Tackling environmental abuse requires government and transport unions working as one,” he warned. He also gave union leaders a direct mandate: keep your garages and parks clean, discourage indiscriminate trading, and remove illegal structures that generate waste and block traffic flow.

Deputy Chief of Staff, Mr. Sam Egube, stressed that transport workers are the first line of defense for public order. He urged them to report suspicious activities and back efforts to keep Lagos clean and safe. “You see what happens on the roads every day. Your eyes and voices matter,” he told the gathering.

The numbers behind the push  
Lagos Waste Management Authority, LAWMA, Managing Director/CEO, Dr. Muyiwa Gbadegesin, laid out the scale of the challenge. Lagos generates about 13,000 tonnes of waste daily.

He called on NURTW and RTEAN members to stop waste disposal on roads, promote proper bagging and binning, and end street trading around bus stops and newly constructed roads that quickly get damaged by the activity.

Special Adviser to the Governor on Transportation, Hon. Sola Giwa, assured the unions that the government would provide backup. That includes enforcing sanitation standards, removing illegal shanties, and maintaining clean transport facilities across the state.

Unions pledge support 
In response, leaders of NURTW and RTEAN pledged their commitment to partner with the government. They agreed to deploy members for waste policing and environmental sanitation duties across parks and motor terminals statewide.