Odumboni: Govt Must Stop Cart Pushing to Avert Security Risks

Managing Director, Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA), Ibrahim Odumboni, spoke to Ugo Aliogo about the agency’s plans to promote environmental sustainability, drive the state government recycling campaign in order to achieve a cleaner Lagos. Excerpts: 

What is the goal behind waste sorting and recycling campaign?

The key reasons why we are focusing on sorting of waste from source and recycling is mainly around achieving 100 percent resource recovery. Then also when it comes to recycling, there is what they call full grade plastic and plastic that is already being contaminated.

So, if you want to continue to have bottle to bottle, where all our bottles are manufactured in Nigeria to create job and business opportunities, we need to ensure that we sort from source. So, that those good grade ones can go back to the Manufacturers to do whatever they want to do with them rather than taking them to the dumpsite. Also, we don’t want every household to get into the habit of co-mingling.

Recycling and separation in years to come, will create sustainability and opportunities. So let’s start from now. We want to encourage a two bin system in every household where your recyclables are going into one and all your organic waste are going into one. And then, that time will come whereby 100 per cent of our waste can be used. If everybody separates and we have dry waste containerized, then we don’t need to go to dumpsite because the organic waste can go into fertilizer plant to produce fertilisers to make whatever we want to make.

Then the other one which is recycling, all recyclables can be used completely. So that is what we want to achieve and we will continue with the campaign. We have taken it to residential neighbourhoods, private estates and businesses from April 1, to encourage people to separate their waste from source, so we can get as much resources as possible. For example, do you know that the value of 1kg of plastic is now between N125 and N150 whereas in September 2019, it was N25. We have been able to change and influence the value, because people are beginning to see more potential opportunities to coming from there.

Also, we have about 6,000 people working in the recycling space now, in September 2019, we only had three registered recyclers and now we have about 114 registered recyclers. There is massive potential in the recycling space.

Is there a commitment from Lagos State Government in sorting and recycling campaign?

There is a big commitment. Two weeks ago, we got an approval from the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, to establish the first bio-degradable plant in Lagos with strong commitment from the proponent that if they want to come and do sustainable business in Lagos, the state government will give them land.

Moreover, the state government will also give them the necessary support. So for them, they will come and build a company, that will make plastic bottles, takeaway bottles that will degrade within two months. So even if it is put anywhere, it will decay and become nothing. This is what is in vogue in other developed countries. Nobody is using plastics that take a long time to decay anymore. That is what is common in Western countries, everyone is using bio-degradable products.

We have tested it because they gave us samples of the plastics and bags, we stocked them, and left them at the dumpsite then watched them and within three weeks, they started the decomposition process. By the end of the six week, the nylons and everything were gone. Those are the kind of things we want. Any packaging that has will be given approval to operate in the state.

The company will do settle down, knowing full well that we are in the rainy season. They are also doing their technical works and other necessary things that they need to do, since the state government has given the needed commitment and hopefully before the end of the year, they will do the ground breaking and everything can start. This is telling you that this administration means business and that is the only way we can stop all what is going on. There are over five million bags that are used daily by the malls in Lagos, if it’s that alone that we stop, our business will start moving well.

Let’s look at second quarter of 2022. Where is LAWMA in the issue of environmental sustainability?

In 2022, one of the achievers and the performers in Lagos State is LAWMA because on a daily basis, we get rid of waste generated. There is everyday interface with LAWMA. We have 1200 compactors and 17,000 sweepers. All in all, in the waste management sector, we have 40,000 of us doing business in the state.

There is no day, even if you are bed bound, you must have interactions with us and that interaction is what is making you healthier, If we don’t take away dirt, there is no way you will be healthier. So, you can see that disease outbreaks have reduced in Lagos; COVID-19 was well managed and on the issue of cleanliness, we are trying in that area. Now if it rains within a couple of minutes the water drains away because we have cleared the drains through the support of Ministry of Environment and Water Resources.

We are sustaining it and we are stopping people from dumping wastes into the canals and drainage channels. Our Marine Unit are also on top of their job, clearing canals and drainage channels on a daily basis. If you look at places where you have demolition and properties, and houses coming down, and rescue mission is completed, the next contact is LAWMA. We are the ones that clean up the place, clear all the rubbles and make sure that all the hazards and exposure there are gone. We make sure that all the dirts are gone and the place is safe for human interaction. We keep the market place clean.

What could be responsible for LAWMA’s improved turnaround time?

On my part as the Managing Director, I have been to NASFAT Ikeja to talk to the people about waste management. My senior management have been to churches to address people about waste management. We have also gone to all the LCDAs. So up till now, we have been to 21 LCDAs out of 57 LCDAs, to talk to landlords’ associations, LCDAs, CDCs, Chairmen of Local governments, market Women, traders, and artisans, to say this is what is peculiar to your area. When we go there, we don’t talk about general, instead we talk about what is peculiar and particular about your area. We have area managers overseeing all the activities in all the various LCDAs. We divided LAWMA into five operational districts and under the five districts we still have someone in charge of the LCDA and so that person knows exactly what the challenges and opportunities area in a particular area.

In an area, where there is an influx of cart pushers, people say the reason for the large amount of cart pushers is because PSPs are not coming. The reasons why PSP are not coming is because most people don’t have bins in their houses so how will they use a PSP? There is no way you can use a PSP without a bin, they are together. Waste has to accumulate somewhere for someone to come and take it, but if you don’t have a bin, what is the PSP going to do? So, cart pushers thrive in places where there are no bins, because people throw out their waste.

We need attitudinal change. In an organised society we behave well, why would you buy plates to eat and you will not buy bins to keep waste? People need to change their attitude and behaviour; patronising cart pushers doesn’t help. We have about 6,000 people working in the recycling space, they are former pickers, that were aggregated into the system and we registered them.

Cart pushing needs to be stopped, it is a big security issue. They are not regulated and most of them are not Nigerians. It’s a security risk. People allow them walk into neighbourhoods to collect waste. We have pickers association and these cart pushers we are talking about, are not registered. Last week, we destroyed 400 carts in total. By Wednesday, the enforcement unit had captured another 117. So, when people are saying that PSPs are not effective, it is not correct. What is true is that most people don’t have a bin. A 240 litres bin will take a family of four for 10 days. Attitude change needs to improve.

Last year, 83 people were jailed for waste management offences. Over 400 were tried and some did community service, who were made to sweep. Some joined the workforce at the dumpsite, to sweep, clear canals and clear drainage channels This year our target is to jail more people caught breaking environmental laws in the state, to serve as a deterrent to potential defaulters. It’s all about attitude change, and if they do, our environment will be well organised. 

What is the present condition of Olusosun and the position of the state government on the dumpsite because LAWMA has closed the dumpsite for 48hours to enable the authority carry out palliative works on the dumpsite for seamless waste operation?

Olusosun will be celebrating its 30 years anniversary in 2024. The plan for Olusosun dumpsite is that we will continue to rehabilitate the dumpsite for sustainability. What we mean by sustainability for Olusosun, is that the dumpsite will be turned to a power plant, that is the long-term plan. We are working on it and we are almost there. All those wastes you see there, they are not waste, they are resources that will generate power for a longtime.

We are looking for a proponent or technology that will use old waste to generate power like the renewables and at the end that 30 hectares of land will be used for alternative energy sources. We are looking at generating electricity for all the industrial estates, commercial facility around that area, so that place will still remain a waste management facility, but it will transform into a power plant.

So what is the present condition of the dumpsite?

The present condition now is that we are using it as a landfill and we are doing a rehabilitation which is starting next week that will extend and prepare it for that transition. This transition will create access roads and treat the dumpsite to pull down all the highpoints and then cover it with vegetal plants and we ensure that the roads are more accessible and at least we can conveniently use it for the next two years. After those years, the proponent will get an approval to move to site while they continue to construct and so, it will be a seamless transformation from a landfill to a power plant, that is the aim for Olusosun.

Who are your partners?

Our partners are the Lagos State Government, Ministry of Environment and Water Resources and the private sector. We have about four or five proponents. We are looking for the ones that will suit that place.

What is the role of FCMB in the initiative?

They might be one of the sponsors or financiers of one of the transactions. There will be various proponents there and they will have their own financiers.

Is there insurance scheme for the road sweepers who work daily on major roads?

When we did a review of the sanitation programmes, we provide them with insurance that covers them for any medical emergency, death while in service or permanent disability. On a monthly basis, we continue to see beneficiary of minor accidents, although our mortality rates have really reduced. There are situations where we have had to pay out when we had mortality. Those are things they never had before and we have it now for our entire sweepers across board.

So what about the sick and injured sweepers?

Those who are sick can visit the hospital, we have up to N200,000 covers for them in terms of medical bills and those ones who have used their own money, we will use cheques to pay them. We gather the ones that have claims, give them their cheques and in the process of doing that, we re-orientate them to ensure that we don’t have a repeat, by being more safety conscious at work.

Give an insight into environmental sustainability in the state under your watch?

I look at LAWMA as the face of Lagos so whatever you are going there to do, is to look at your environment, which dictates the mood and ambience of the state. We are the starter for everybody for the day. We ensure that we make the state clean. So, we ensure that by 4am, we are pulling our weight so that before Lagosians wake up from 5:30am to 6a.m, everyone is choosing the right mood and energised for the day, to do what they need to do. So, for us, sustainability in the sense that, we need to ensure that what we do now, we must take cognizance of what we intend to achieve in the future.

What we do now will take into cognizance what we need to achieve in the future. For example, I am talking about the waste energy plant, the consistently clean Lagos, a clear agenda for waste management in Lagos. After drawing up plans for Lagos up till 2052 and for drawing it up you have to think. You don’t think about things just now, all these concentrations of waste and two bins systems, that we are talking about, ensuring that people are doing the right things, going to LAWMA academy and SUBEB to teach kids, so that when they grow up, they will not be the problems that some adults are posing for us. So, it is all about sustainability to make things easier and cheaper for the government.

I must give accolades to governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, for the financial commitment towards cleaning the state on a daily basis. Our aim is not to continue to grow that cost, our aim is to reduce the cost and to achieve that, we have to put sustainability as our key goal. 

Can you give insight of the 2015 Public Health law and the 2017 environmental protection laws and what is the significance and implications of the laws to environmental sustainability of the state?

If you look at the 2015 and 2017, laws for us in terms of solid waste management, one was pre-existing before the other one. One gave birth to Visionscape. Since the advent of this administration, we have all returned to the status quo, which is the 2015 and then borrowed some of the positives of 2017 to ensure that we continue to work. I know that law is under review through the Ministry of Environment and Water Resources, that sets the policy and the House of Assembly, hopefully very soon, we would have a more recent version of the law.

There is sustainability across board, but the pace and implementation is another thing, when it comes to law, policy and strategic planning anybody can sit down and think but the implementation is always the issue. For me, the sustainability that comes with 2015 and 2017, they are all there, but the implementation and the leadership are key indicators to make those things work.

What are your key deliverables for 2022?

In 2022, the number one deliverable is to make recycling space bigger than it has been in the past, knowing full well that 17percent of the waste we generate, are plastic waste and I want to work to capture about 14 percent of them rather than the 5-6 percent that we are doing now because I know that that will create an extra 10,000 jobs and that will make sure that our drainages and canals are clean.

Goal number two is to build LAWMA for the future. I have been two years in the saddle. We have plans that we are drawing up, nobody will leave in this world permanently, so you need to start thinking about legacy and structure. My aim is to build a structure that will be unchanged in the future I want for Lagos, that’s why we have sent all our senior management team to Lagos Business School (LBS) to do leadership and Sustainability training. They have all finished that and they are certified. We have moved on to train Junior Management team for us to have a structure in place. Leadership can destroy everything; one wrong bad leader can change everything we are talking about now.