Foundation, LAWMA urge tourists, community to keep environment, beaches clean

The Oba Saheed Elegushi Foundation and Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) have called on Lagos residents, particularly those living in the Ikate-Elegushi community of the state, to clean up their environment to avoid the spread of diseases.

The organisations also called on visitors, particularly those visiting various tourist destinations, especially beaches, within and around the community to ensure they maintain proper waste disposal to avoid pollution.

The organisations made the call during a community advocacy programme ahead of 2025 World Environment Day (WED) on Wednesday in Lagos.

The event is with the theme, ‘Community Clean-Up Initiative’.

The Coordinator, World Environment Day Clean-Up for the foundation, Mr Temidayo Farinu, said the event was aimed at creating awareness on the dangers of plastic pollution to the community.

Farinu said, aside from educating the community on the dangers of indiscriminate disposal of plastic wastes, there would also be a widespread community clean-up.

“The reason why we involve a lot of the community people is because we want people to have the sense of accountability toward the environment.

“Waste is one of the challenges in Lagos and the situation of flooding we have sometimes is occasioned by the blocking of the water channels and the drains,” he said.
Also, Mrs Abosede Tayo, Assistant Director, Monitoring and Intervention Team, Street Sanitation, LAWMA, warned that poor waste poses serious threats to the environment, and public health.

Speaking further on the clean-up of the community, Tayo urged residents and visitors to prioritise environmental cleanliness, particularly at the beaches and other local tourist spots.

The LAWMA official told our correspondent that beyond the aesthetic and environmental benefits of cleanliness, improper disposal of plastic wastes could contribute to various kinds of diseases.

“Plastics are biodegradable waste, it cannot be broken down.

“So, if fishes in the ocean swallow the plastic materials, it will not be digested.

“If humans eat those fishes, definitely the person is eating fish, and plastic.

“There should be no air pollution, no land pollution, no water pollution; that is what we are preaching,” she said.A traditional leader of the community, Chief Olalekan Bakare, said the initiative was an intensified environmental sanitation effort aimed at preserving the area’s growing appeal as a tourism destination.

Bakare said the programme was focused on ridding the community of plastic wastes and desilting blocked drains to ensure a cleaner and safer environment for both residents and visitors.

“We’re coming into the rainy season now, and we can see a lot of plastic and solid wastes in our quarters.

“When it rains, everywhere is flooded, as a result there are lots of mosquitoes and people falling sick,” he told NAN.

He commended the traditional ruler of Ikateland, Oba Saheed Elegushi, for his support and oversight of the initiative, adding that cleaning of communities should not be left for the state government alone.

Oba Elegushi,however, urged the government to reinstate the suspended monthly sanitation, adding that it did not just boost environmental cleanliness but also community security.

Elegushi urged Lagos residents to prioritise the cleanliness of their environment, and not just their homes or individual spaces.

Pur correspondent also reports that personnel of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) and LAWMA were on ground to ensure the success of the project.