By Kehinde Balikis Kenku
Lagos has a waste crisis. Everyone sees it heaps of refuse by the roadside, blocked drains overflowing into streets, and the choking stench of decay. But when you ask who is to blame, the finger-pointing begins. Residents accuse the Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) of negligence, while LAWMA blames residents for not paying their bills. The truth? Both sides are guilty.
I speak from experience. In 2016, after my NYSC, I moved to Akesan, Igando. Almost immediately, I noticed something troubling: LAWMA trucks hardly visited our community. When they did, it was once or twice a month and only at selected stops.
The explanation was simple but frustrating: only households that paid their waste bills got service. Fair enough. But our building had been bundled with neighboring Face-me-I-face-you houses where tenants refused to pay even ₦200–₦500 per room. To avoid being dragged down with them, I went to the LAWMA office and got separate billing for my household. From then on, we paid every month. But then the trucks stopped coming altogether.
For years, Residents dumped refuse at bus stops and into gutters. I, too, resorted to paying informal collectors not knowing where the waste ended up. When I pushed for answers, LAWMA offices were locked, customer care lines dead, and staff members claimed trucks serviced our area which was simply untrue.
Weeks of follow-up later, the officer in charge finally admitted the truth: our community had been reassigned to a new waste contractor years ago. Campaigns were supposedly carried out through the community chairman yet nobody ever told us.
This is the root of Lagos’ waste problem a massive communication breakdown. LAWMA and its contractors rely on community leaders to spread information, but messages get lost due to the large number of population of resident.
Meanwhile, residents many of whom refuse to pay their bills continue dumping irresponsibly until government starts arrests. That isn’t civic duty; it’s fear.
Both sides must own up:
LAWMA’s failures: Poor communication, poor outreach, and zero transparency when contracts change hands. On the part of residents’ failures: Chronic refusal to pay, indifference to proper disposal, and a culture of waiting for enforcement before acting responsibly.
The way forward is clear. LAWMA must expand direct communication with residents through flyers, street campaigns, hotlines that work, and transparent updates on operators. Residents must pay their bills, stop roadside dumping, and demand accountability.
Lagos is already battling flooding, climate change, and environmental degradation. Without shared responsibility, the city will collapse under its own filth. The future of Lagos depends on whether both government and citizens step up in all.