Environment

To improve the environment of Lagos, we need to consider the following:

  • Housing
  • Traffic management
  • Waste collection and disposal
  • Pollution control

HOUSING

Build affordable flats and terraced houses and also encourage the payment of rent monthly and not yearly.

Attract diaspora investment or borrow from international organizations into the real estate sector.

Similar to the government estates such as Mile 2, Festac Jakande, Abesan, the Lagos government will build affordable houses with good road network, gas and potable water supply facilities

WATER

The Sustainable Development goal 6 aims to ensure availability of water and sanitation. Despite receiving a budgetary allocation of about 16 billion Naira between 2019 and 2023, over ten million Lagosians still do not have access to potable water. The Oladipo Fadamiro-led administration will immediately spring into action to complete any existing and viable water project and create new and necessary infrastructure to provide potable water to Lagosians.

TRAFFIC and ROAD MAINTENANCE

Lagos has the smallest land mass and has to be the most populated state in Nigeria. This makes the city one of the most congested in the world. 4 out of every 10 cars are said to be registered in Lagos, and a commuter spends about 3 hours in traffic daily. Something needs to be done.

There are 3 important traffic components that needs improvement – roads, driver and vehicle

  1. Improve the roads: This is primarily the government’s responsibility.
    • The roads will be maintained by having mini-construction warehouses in every local government area of the state. This way, road repairs will be faster and maintenance more efficient.
    • Road signs and markings must be adequate and properly situated. 
    • Encourage the use of bicycles and make bicycle paths (people who live, work or school in the same local government should adopt cycling)
    • Produce handbook on safe driving and cycling.
    • Traders and trading must in no way obstruct the flow of traffic (pedestrian, cyclist or vehicle)
    • Traffic lights should be more responsive and intelligent
    • Streetlights must work at night.
    • Better traffic management during road construction.
    • Enforce the Lagos State Road Traffic law (section 2, subsection 1) that prevents trailers from plying the road between 6am and 9pm (Read here)
  2. Improve the driver
    • Buses must park properly at bus stops before passengers alight
    • Proper driving test must be done to obtain driver’s licence
    • Traffic laws, speed limits must be adhered to
    • Proper planning for parking and vehicle flow should be done for large church services, clubs or during big events.
  3. Improve the vehicle
    • Vehicles (cars, buses, trailers) must be in good condition before being used on the road.
    • MOT certificate, road worthiness, insurance must be issued and easily verifiable by law enforcement from the plate number
    • Speed cameras installed on major roads
    • Effective bus management system (every 30 minutes) and can be seen on Google maps. They must also be clean, predictable, and in good condition. Daily, weekly, monthly, family of 6 ticketing at discounted prices helps reduce costs.

TRANSPORTATION

There are effectively three ways Lagosians move around namely road, rail and water. The railways and trains are doing okay but the road and water ways need major improvement. Commercial buses must be neat, safe and in good condition. The drivers should be trained to courteous and responsible. They should only stop at designated bus stops and follow any established routes. Cashless payments should be available. The buses should also be predictable and efficient (e.g. arrive every 30 minutes). Mobile or web apps should be made available for ticket booking or location viewing

WASTE

Clear all canals and gutters. Discourage the dumping of refuse indiscriminately, remove structures obstructing the drainage or free flow of water. 

Provide two different coloured bins free to all houses especially those paying their Land Use charge and/or LAWMA charges. One bin to collect food waste and other biodegradables and the other to collect waste which can be recycled. These should be collected at least once every 2 weeks for residential houses and every week for commercial buildings and markets. This will significantly reduce any offensive odour on the streets since trucks collecting this different waste go to different dumpsites. There are currently 3 major dumpsites in Lagos – Olusosun in Ikeja, Solous 2 on Lasu – Iba road, Epe dumpsite

POLLUTION

Public wastebins must be provided to reduce the indiscriminate dumping of refuse.

Noise pollution including unnecessary car honking should continue to be minimized

FLOODS

Lagos suffers from persistent flooding, especially during the rainy season. This leads to the displacement of many residents as well as causing business activities to be on a standstill. To proffer solutions to these flooding, it’s important to understand the stages of water flow

  1. Water flows when there’s a height difference. It moves (under the influence of gravity) from a high level to a lower level. Therefore, the first step in preventing flooding is to remove anything that obstructs this flow, including buildings and similar structures. Now, it is better to prevent such illegal structures from being constructed in the first place through regular inspection of canals and water channels than to demolish an already completed building. Also, all ongoing and viable drainage projects will be fast-tracked. Similarly, Lagosians will be sensitized on ways to correctly dispose of their waste, such as plastics, sanitary towels, diapers, and used condoms, to prevent blockage of water channels. Gutters must be covered to reduce the urge to dump refuse indiscriminately. Cart pushers and ‘omo lanke’ will be banned.
  2. When the rate of water filling by rain is faster than the rate it flows out of the road, flash flood occurs.
  3. During heavy rain, the sea level rises and may be at the same level as the road especially in certain parts of Lagos where the sea level is about 1 to 3 m below the ground. In such situations, a technique called water detention can be initiated. This involves transporting the water to a large tank through large pumps and holding it there until the rain abates, after which it is released slowly into the drainage.
  4. It is still possible for the rains to beat all these mechanisms put in place. If this is reliably predicted by the meteorologists and weather forecasters, a warning or evacuation notice can be released in affected areas.
Scroll to Top