By Kehinde Balikis Kenku
Last year, I wrote an article on what I described as the Lagos waste war, a crisis where both the government and residents shared responsibility for the failure of waste management in the state.
At the time, my position was balanced: citizens needed to do better, and the Lagos State Government needed to improve access, communication, and consistency through LAWMA and its operators.
It is now 2026, and sadly, I am writing the same article again, only this time, with far less patience and far more disappointment. Because one year later, the situation has not improved. In fact, in many communities, it has become worse.
And this time, the bulk of the blame no longer lies with residents. It lies squarely with the Lagos State Government Last year, one of my major complaints was that LAWMA operators were not accessible in many communities.
In response, officials argued that trucks were deployed, announcements were made, and that residents simply did not cooperate or take waste management seriously.
That argument no longer holds water in 2026. In my community and surrounding areas, LAWMA has not picked up waste in almost six months. Six months.
Not weeks. Not days. I personally placed calls, twice, to ask why waste collection had stopped. The response was shocking but revealing:thereis nowheretodumpthewaste.
The landfill close to us, around Alimosho, near the General Hospital in Igando, is completely filled. The alternative dumping site is reportedly in Badagry, which operators say is too far and economically unrealistic for them to service regularly.
So what happens next? Nothing.
SystemThatForcesLaw-AbidingCitizenstoBreaktheRules
Waste continues to pile up in homes. Flies multiply. Health risks grow.
The same environmental dangers we are warned against, cholera, malaria, respiratory diseases, stare us in the face daily. Naturally, residents begin to do the very thing the government warns against: dumping refuse at bus stops, on road medians, and by the roadside. Not because they arecareless, but because there is no alternative.
Even as a climate change advocate, I am now part of the problem. Not by choice, but by force. I pay people, informal waste collectors, “abokis”, to take my refuse away. Where they dumpit, I honestly do not know. And that is the tragedy of it all.
A system failure has turned environmentally conscious citizens into unwilling contributors to environmental degradation. So I ask: can we still blame the residents?
SelectiveSanitationIsNotPolicy
The government only seems to act when waste becomes a public embarrassment. When videos go viral, when refuse blocks major roads, or when complaints become too loud to ignore. But inside the communities? Silence.
This is not governance. This is reactionary sanitation. Yes, places like Obalende bridge and its environment recently received attention. The area was cleared, and expected to be redeveloped into a modern, well structured transport hub to be called “Y’ELLO Bus Park.
That is commendable. But what about the waste that piles up daily on inner streets, in residential areas, and across communities that never make the headlines? Cleaning one spot while neglecting ten others is not a solution, it is cosmetic governance.
Climate Talk Without Environmental Action
What makes this failure even more painful is the hypocrisy around climate change conversations.
Government officials speak passionately about climate action, sustainability, and environmental responsibility, yet the most basic environmental duty, waste disposal, remains unresolved. How can we fight climate change while drowning in refuse?
How can residents be environmentally responsible when the system designed to support them has collapsed?
The 2026 Question Lagos Must Answer
This is no longer about blaming the Residents. Many of us are willing to pay. Many of us want to comply. But compliance is impossible when there is no functioning system.
So the question for 2026 is simple and urgent: What is the Lagos State Government doing about waste disposal? Where are the new dumping sites? What long-term infrastructure is being built to support a growing population? Whenwill this cycle finally end?
Because until these questions are answered with action, not press statements, the Lagos waste crisis will continue, year after year, article after article. And unfortunately, the government will remain the biggest obstacle to the solution it claims to seek.
