Mounting Refuse In Lagos Markets, Road Medians Pose Major Health Risks – Experts

Amid the mounting refuse visible in Lagos markets and road medians said to have been triggered by indiscriminate dumping of waste in the metropolis, health and policy experts have raised the alarm over the menace, warning that the practice is not only an environmental hazard but also a serious public health threat.

The experts agreed that waste management should be treated as a public health priority, requiring government, businesses and citizens to work together to keep Lagos markets, roads and communities safe and healthy.

Vice President 2, Healthcare Federation of Nigeria (HFN), Dr. Jennifer Anyanti, said heaps of refuse in markets, on road medians and in public spaces attract flies, rats, cockroaches and other disease-carrying pests. “These pests can spread germs to food, water and surfaces, increasing the risk of diarrheal, food poisoning and other infections. This is particularly worrying in markets where food is displayed and sold close to waste,” she said.

Anyanti stressed that tackling Lagos’ waste challenge requires shared responsibility, saying, “While government has an important role in providing effective waste collection and disposal systems, individuals, communities and the private sector must also be part of the solution,” she said.

She outlined practical steps, beginning with reducing the amount of waste generated. “Materials should be reused where possible, while paper, plastics, glass, metals and other suitable materials should be separated and recycled rather than simply thrown away. Lagos also has insufficient land for refuse landfills, so we need to deal with that problem urgently.”

According to her, the private sector can contribute by supporting public education and awareness programmes, providing waste bins and collection points, investing in recycling and promoting responsible disposal.

“We need to move away from a culture of simply collecting and dumping waste to one that promotes reduce, reuse and recycle. Better waste management will not only make Lagos cleaner; it will help prevent disease, protect the environment and improve the quality of life of millions of people,” she said.

Public Policy and Communications Expert Clifford Egbomeade also warned that the health implications of poor waste management are severe, saying, “Waste accumulation creates an ecosystem for disease transmission. Areas such as Ajah, Ikorodu, Mushin, Oshodi and parts of Lagos Island have experienced recurring challenges with blocked drains, overflowing waste points and indiscriminate dumping.

‘’During rainfall, refuse obstructs drainage channels and contributes to flooding, exposing residents to contaminated floodwater and increasing the risk of diarrhoea diseases, cholera and other infections,” he said.

Egbomeade suggested that Lagos should rethink waste management as a public health intervention and recommended that the Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) and local governments identify and continuously monitor waste hotspots using location-based reporting, including community WhatsApp channels and rapid-response teams.

“A pile of refuse left for several days should be treated as a public health incident, not just a sanitation issue,” he said.

He also called for markets to have designated waste managers responsible for sorting and removing refuse at scheduled intervals, with market associations held accountable for persistent dumping. Waste collection schedules, he said, should reflect actual generation patterns, with busy commercial areas requiring more frequent collection, especially during the rainy season.

“Enforcement should target both behaviour and the system simultaneously. Residents who dump refuse illegally should face penalties, but authorities must also ensure accessible disposal points and reliable collection services. People are more likely to comply when the alternative is practical and convenient,” Egbomeade said.

Public Health Professional, Ojelade Oluwabukola cautioned that the indiscriminate dumping of refuse across Lagos is not merely an environmental or aesthetic problem but a serious public health concern that requires urgent attention.

She explained that when heaps of refuse accumulate in markets, residential areas and road medians, they create favourable conditions for disease-causing organisms and vectors. “Decomposing waste attracts rats, flies, cockroaches and other pests, while blocked drainage channels can create stagnant water that encourages mosquito breeding,” she said.

According to her, this increases the risk of diseases such as cholera, typhoid fever, diarrhoeal diseases and other gastrointestinal infections, particularly where food and water become contaminated.

“In markets, the danger is even greater because uncovered food may be exposed to flies, rodents and contaminated materials,” she added.

Oluwabukola also warned that improperly disposed refuse can block drainage systems, worsen flooding and contaminate surrounding water sources.

She noted that open burning of accumulated waste presents another health concern, as the smoke and particulate matter released can worsen respiratory problems.

From a public health perspective, she said Lagos cannot solve this problem through occasional clean-up exercises alone. “There must be consistent waste collection, proper waste segregation and disposal, adequate waste bins at markets and other strategic locations, stronger enforcement against illegal dumping, improved drainage maintenance, and sustained public education,” she said.

She concluded that waste management should be regarded as preventive healthcare, saying, ‘’preventing environmental contamination is far less costly than managing outbreaks of diseases that arise from poor sanitation.”

Meanwhile, in order to solve the problem, Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has declared a state of emergency in management of waste in the state.

Sanwo-Olu made the declaration when he recently paid an official visit to one of the dump sites for disposal of waste in the state located at Olusosun, Ojota area of the state.

He said, “We have seen the pressure of the turnaround of waste collection in different parts of the city. We have seen a challenge of people throwing waste indiscriminately in different parts of the city.

“We have set up some process of ensuring that we can do sanitation on a monthly basis, which started about four months ago. We’ve also pushed a lot of advocacy on waste management, waste treatment from residents.

“That itself also has not been effectively coordinated. So we’re here for ourselves to see what is the problem, what is happening, and for us to clearly be able to declare what we will call a small state of emergency, just so that we can get out of this very unpleasant situation,” he said.

Sanwo-Olu explained that the state government also has a plan with her development partner to build what can be called a transfer loading station in Olusosun, saying “It will be a 2,400 metric ton transfer loading station here, where they will be receiving compacted waste, which will eventually be taken to a material recovery site.

“We’re building concurrently, as we speak, two transfer loading stations of the same size, about 2,400, which means that they should be able to receive about 500 trucks per day at two different locations: here and the second one at Solu 3, which is in Alimosho.

“Those two transfer loading stations will now be transferring compacted waste to two material recovery sites that we’re building. We’re building one at Oke Osho in Epe, and the other one is in Erikitte in Badagry. So the plan is with the transfer loading stations, waste will be compacted and eventually will now be taken to a material recovery site, where waste will be further sorted and further broken into other uses.

‘’So this is like a medium to long-term plan in which we believe all of these things will be happening, be ready by the second quarter next year into the first quarter.”

He added by saying, “ But let’s push back and find out what exactly we’re also doing today. Apart from this site that you can see that they’ve done a lot of excavation, they’ve done a lot of stabilization to be able to build the transfer loading station.

“What we have also done is to look at how we ensure today that a place like Olusosun can receive, from what it currently receives is about 250 to 350 trucks, to see how we can quickly ramp it up to receiving about 350 to 450 trucks. And that can happen if we can increase the tipping points, which currently is about two or three, to about four, you know, five. Which, after this conversation, we’ll also see it started. So that we can have a lot more turnaround here.

‘’Not only here, also at Solu. Solu currently has a challenge where we need to open up the road so that it will continue to receive waste. We believe that the road grading for receiving waste will be in another two or three weeks because the road stabilization needs to happen from this weekend and the job will be completed hopefully in two to three weeks.” Sanwo-Olu said.