The Sustainable Future Development Initiative (SUFDI), in partnership with the African Cleanup Initiative, has mobilised residents and the Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) to clear blocked drains and canals and evacuate waste from communities across the state.

The exercise, organised as part of activities marking World Cleanup Day, was held simultaneously in Ijora-Badia, Ikeja, Ojuelegba, Surulere, Bariga and Agege, among other areas.

Speaking on the initiative, SUFDI Executive Director, Favour John, said it was aimed at reducing flooding, promoting positive environmental behaviour, encouraging active and healthy mobility, linking sanitation with public health and strengthening community ownership and institutional collaboration.

John said the initiative was conceived in response to poor environmental practices observed in the selected communities, adding that residents were being educated on the importance of maintaining clean and healthy surroundings.

She expressed optimism that the awareness created through the exercise would encourage residents to abandon practices such as open defecation, dumping waste in drainage channels and indiscriminate burning of refuse.

“We noticed that many people here still engage in unhealthy environmental practices like open defecation and disposal of waste in gutters, among others. These, we have told them, are injurious to their health and have devastating effects on their environment.

We believe that with what we have done here, they will see the need to abandon such practices and avoid the consequences,” she said.

The SUFDI Brands and Research Manager, Praise Arokamoni, said the organisation was working with other groups to promote a healthy environment across Nigeria.

He said the initiative would become a yearly programme to help improve environmental safety and promote healthy living.

Also speaking, the Chairman of Ijora-Badia, Apapa-Iganmu Local Council Development Area (LCDA), Wasiu Akionla, thanked the organisers for the initiative and pledged to work with other community leaders to sustain environmental sanitation campaigns.