Debate: ‘Lagos has waste-pick-and-dump system, not waste management’ – GRV

The governorship candidates of the Labour Party (LP), Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, and the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Funso Doherty, have criticised the Lagos State Government’s waste management system, describing it as inefficient and in need of urgent reform.

The candidates made their positions known during the Lagos governorship debate in Lagos on Friday organised by the Nigeria Debate Consortium comprising Vanguard, Channels Television, TVC News, The PUNCH and TheCable.

Rhodes-Vivour argued that waste management in Lagos was too centralised, with local governments having little or no involvement in the system.

He said the state had failed to develop a waste-to-wealth value chain, relying instead on a system focused largely on collecting and dumping refuse.

“The management of the system is too centralised. Local governments are not involved. We have failed to create a waste-to-wealth value chain. We don’t have a proper waste management system; we have a waste-pick-and-dump system,” he said.

The LP candidate promised to decentralise waste management by involving local governments and creating opportunities to generate economic value from waste.

“Under my government, that will change. We will get local governments involved. We will create value from waste, so that people, local governments and the state government can all benefit,” he added.

Similarly, Doherty described the state’s waste management challenges as a failure of government, noting that while some parts of Lagos were clean, others continued to struggle with poor sanitation.

“Parts of Lagos are smelling, while other parts are clean. We have a waste management problem, and I would characterise it as a failure of government,” he said.

The NDC candidate identified inadequate investment in waste collection trucks as one of the factors worsening the situation.

He also blamed the problem on the government’s approach to public services, arguing that successive administrations had increasingly withdrawn from the social sector while expecting private operators to fill the gap.

“Part of the problem is that we don’t have enough investment in trucks. It goes back to the government stepping back from the social sector and wanting the private sector to do everything,” he added.