LAWMA Revives ‘Wole Wole’: Environmental Officers Set to Enter Lagos Homes
Lagos is preparing to bring back a familiar face from its environmental past—the Wole Wole, as the Lagos Waste Management Authority, LAWMA, moves to strengthen enforcement of sanitation standards across neighbourhoods.
The Wole Wole, traditionally known as environmental and health officers, will return to communities and residential compounds to check how households handle their waste, maintain gutters and comply with environmental regulations.
The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of LAWMA, Dr Muyiwa Gbadegesin, disclosed this during a briefing at the authority’s headquarters in Ijora-Olopa, Lagos.
Gbadegesin said the renewed enforcement is part of efforts to support the Lagos State Government’s drive for a cleaner and healthier city.
Under the arrangement, environmental health officers—whose numbers have been increased—will visit compounds to inspect waste bins, the condition of gutters and how refuse is stored and presented for collection.
The move comes as LAWMA intensifies its campaign against indiscriminate dumping, patronage of illegal waste operators and trading on road medians and other unauthorised locations.
When the rubbish refuses to disappear
For many Lagos residents, however, the return of environmental enforcement comes against the backdrop of a daily struggle with waste.
Ukata News observed that large quantities of accumulated refuse had recently been evacuated from areas including Igando Market, Akesan and Iyana-Oba by LAWMA-powered PSP operators.
But residents told our correspondent that while the evacuation had reduced the size of some waste heaps, refuse still remained in several locations.
In some areas, the heaps have become an eyesore, raised concerns about public health and reduced the space available to pedestrians and motorists.
LAWMA acknowledges that waste collection has not been consistent in some communities.
Gbadegesin attributed part of the problem to operational challenges involving some PSP operators serving those areas.
He, however, said the situation was improving following the arrival of additional compactor trucks, which he said were already helping the authority evacuate accumulated waste across the state.
The LAWMA boss also identified markets as major sources of waste generation and accumulation.
He disclosed plans to install biodigester plants at major markets, including Ikosi Fruit Market, where organic waste can be converted into fuel at source.
Another intervention is the planned deployment of smaller compactor trucks capable of entering narrow streets and difficult-to-access communities.
For residents living in such areas, the expectation is simple: that the return of the Wole Wole will not only bring enforcement, but also a more reliable waste collection system.
Gbadegesin appealed to Lagosians to pay their waste management charges, stressing that keeping a megacity like Lagos clean requires substantial and sustained funding.
As the Wole Wole prepares to return to the neighbourhoods, the bigger test may be whether enforcement and efficient waste collection can move together—because for residents living beside overflowing refuse, a cleaner Lagos is not just a government slogan; it is a matter of everyday health, dignity and quality of life.
By Innocent Onoh
