2023 Labour Party Governorship candidate, *Mr. Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, GRV*, has described comments by Lagos State Deputy Governor, *Dr. Obafemi Hamzat*, on the state’s waste management crisis as “embarrassing” and evidence of poor planning by the APC government.
In a statement via his verified X handle, GRV faulted the Deputy Governor for saying, *”We thought we were generating 13,000 tonnes [of waste] on a daily basis.”
“After being in government for at least 20 years, how can Mr Hamzat say ‘we thought’?” GRV asked. “Who misled you?”
GRV said waste management cannot be run on guesswork. He argued that every landfill in Lagos should have a functioning weighbridge to measure daily waste intake and establish accurate averages.
“It is deeply worrying that Olusosun, the largest dumpsite in Lagos, doesn’t have one. Igando doesn’t have either. So how exactly are you planning and managing waste without reliable data?” he queried.
GRV further questioned whether Lagos has the capacity to evacuate and manage even the 13,000 tonnes reportedly generated daily. He listed gaps in trucks, transfer stations, recycling facilities, properly managed landfills, and modern waste-to-energy systems.
He also challenged the transparency of the system, asking: “Is the system accessible enough to boost private sector participation without APC patronage? The answer is clearly no. And that is why Lagos is in the deplorable environmental state we see today.”*
Reacting to the Deputy Governor’s remark that “if you go around Africa, what you see is disorganisation,” GRV said that should not be Lagos’ benchmark.
“Lagos should not be benchmarking itself against disorganisation. We should be setting the standard for urban management in Africa.”
He blamed the current state of the environment on “poor planning, lack of accountability and a failure of imagination”* after 26 years of APC rule.
“What the APC government has lacked the imagination and political will to solve in the last 26 years, they will not solve in another 8 years. It is time for YOU to experience a better Lagos, a working Lagos, A Lagos that puts YOU first. #OURLAGOS”*
The Lagos State Government had not responded to GRV’s statement as at Press time
Residents across Alimosho and other parts of Lagos have continued to lament indiscriminate waste dumping and delays in evacuation, especially during the rainy season.
