Lagos State Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, has expressed his disagreement with the 2023 Labour Party (LP) governorship candidate, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour (GRV) over the resumption of the monthly environmental sanitation exercise.

In a post on his official X account on Friday, Wahab issued a reminder to Lagosians that the exercise would kick off today, Saturday, April 25, 2026.

“Tomorrow morning between 6:30am and 8:30am, we begin a new chapter in our collective journey toward a cleaner Lagos. The monthly environmental sanitation exercise returns, and I am calling on every resident to come out and participate actively,” he said.

“Let me address the confusion some have tried to create. No court pronouncement has invalidated this exercise. The State proceeded to the Court of Appeal, and judgment was delivered in our favour. The Court affirmed that the laws used for the implementation and enforcement of environmental sanitation are legitimate and constitutional. So disregard those who choose to mislead the public.

“We have planned this for over a year. We have thought it through. We cannot keep complaining about dirty surroundings and blaming government while shirking our own responsibilities. The care of our environment is a collaborative project between government and citizens.

“Major transport unions controlling about 90% of vehicles on our roads have pledged not to deploy their vehicles from major parks during the sanitation window. If government vehicles are staying put, what will it cost us to stay home for just two hours to clean our environment?

“We are not unreasonable. Exceptions exist for emergencies, scheduled flights, and students writing JAMB exams. LAWMA has been fully mobilized to evacuate waste generated. Environmental health officers will monitor properties, and defaulters will be served abatement notices.

“Tomorrow, let us show Lagos and the world that we are ready to take ownership of our environment. Two hours. One Saturday each month. A cleaner, healthier, flood-free Lagos for all of us.”

Reacting, GRV expressed his displeasure with the resumption of the monthly environmental sanitation exercise because: “Shutting down a city of 20 million people to clean their immediate environment is parochial and lacks imagination.

“For emphasis: the issue is not so much about cleaning your environment (which is great) but the logistics of waste management – starting from the collection, to disposal and recycling. Anything short of rethinking this system is cosmetic and unimaginative.”

Responding to GRV, Wahab begged to respectfully disagree with the Lagos State governorship standard bearer during the 2023 election.

The commissioner said shutting down a city of over 20 million people is not what the Lagos State Government is doing, as they are only asking residents to dedicate one hundred and twenty minutes, once every thirty days, to clean their immediate surroundings.

That is not a shutdown, according to Wahab, with the commissioner saying that is called taking responsibility.

He said he agrees completely that waste management logistics, from collection to disposal to recycling, are critical, which is why the state government has spent the past year strengthening those very systems.

“We have banned single use plastics, we are converting Olusosun landfill to energy, we are deploying biogas facilities in our markets, we are partnering with Lafarge to turn waste into valuable resources, and we are empowering young innovators with technology to improve sanitation access. These are not cosmetic actions. They are structural changes to how Lagos manages waste,” Wahab said.

“But here is what I also know. No system of waste management, no matter how sophisticated, will succeed if citizens refuse to take basic responsibility for their environment. You cannot complain about flooding while dumping refuse in drains.

“You cannot demand a cleaner city while sweeping waste into the road. You cannot blame government for a dirty environment when you are unwilling to clean the front of your own house.”

Wahab explained that the monthly sanitation exercise is not a substitute for systemic reform, it is a complement to it and it is also about rebuilding a culture of environmental stewardship that has been lost over time.

According to him, technology and infrastructure alone cannot save a city whose people have abandoned personal responsibility, while he also said that the Lagos State Government is open to objective criticism that offers solutions.

“We welcome objective criticism that offers solutions. But dismissing a civic exercise as unimaginative, while offering no alternative path to citizen participation, does not move us forward,” Wahab added.