By Erasmus Ikhide
The visual and olfactory tragedy of a Mega-City
No visitor arriving in Lagos can possibly miss its stunning, breathtaking neglect. Traffic chaos was once considered its second nature, an unfortunate product of its frantic geographic expansion and sprawling population.
However, this notorious gridlock has now been violently overtaken by a far more pervasive and nauseating malady: the proliferation of indiscriminate waste dumps festering across the metropolis without timely or systematic evacuation.
From Badagry to Mile 2, from Mile 2 down to Orile, stretching across the congested veins of Iyana Iba to Egbeda, and from Oshodi down to Agbado-Ijaye, the landscape bears the deep scars of environmental abandonment.
Both the mainland and Lagos Island—most notably historic, high-density commercial hubs like Idumota, Akpongbon, and their claustrophobic environs—have systematically devolved into monumental environmental disasters because of unmitigated, indiscriminate waste dumping.
You would be genuinely shocked at how dirty these areas have become. All sides of the roads, the medians, and the once-functional drainage channels are littered, choked, and buried under industrial and domestic refuse.
Other prime locations such as Lekki and Victoria Island may be less littered on the surface, but even their primary thoroughfares cry out for urgent attention and structural maintenance.
If you juxtapose what is happening in this self-proclaimed “Centre of Excellence” with the visionary, monumental development strides of the Lateef Jakande years, one is bound to confront agonizing, existential questions: Is Lagos actually working? What is happening to our local governments? Why can’t they evacuate basic waste? Above all, is someone still presiding over the state government?
The Golden Benchmark: The Jakande Era vs. Present Ruin
To understand the depth of our current desolation, one must revisit the historic governance benchmark set by Alhaji Lateef Jakande during his administration as governor of Lagos State from 1979 to 1983. The population of Lagos was already growing rapidly at the time, which overstretched available infrastructure as public schools were severely congested.
Instead of offering endless excuses or commissioning superficial media events, the Jakande administration revolutionized public education by building hundreds of affordable primary and secondary schools to abolish the stressful and dehumanizing morning and afternoon shift systems.
His government constructed thousands of functional, low-cost classrooms grouped into major neighborhood schools and complexes across local government areas like Mushin, Agege, Ipaja, Apapa, and Epe. Notable legacy educational hubs established during this period include, the prestigious Tolu Schools Complex in Ajeromi-Ifelodun, the Amuwo-Odofin Schools Complex, the Okota Schools Complex and the Odu Abore Primary School in Mushin.
Furthermore, Jakande’s administration established General Hospital zones all over the state with the firm assurance of free healthcare for the populace. In a testament to his unmatched administrative vision, his government built more libraries in Lagos State than all the governors combined since 1999, and he made history as the first governor to present a billion-naira state budget in Nigeria.
In higher and technical education, his administration founded Lagos State University (LASU) to provide higher learning opportunities for Lagos residents. He relocated and expanded the Lagos State College of Education (LACOED/now Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education) to train professional teachers, and founded Lagos State Polytechnic (LASPOTECH) to boost technical and vocational manpower across the federation.
Dedicated teacher training colleges and technical schools were also set up across different divisions to rapidly supply qualified educators and skilled workers.
Institutional Decay and Administrative Inertia
Today, the contrast between that golden era of purpose-driven leadership and the current dispensation under Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu is stark, painful, and profoundly embarrassing.
Established secondary schools and tertiary institutions—including Lagos State University as its flagship, multiple housing estates in isolation (such as Agbado-Ijaiye and Agege-Abesan), and critical arterial roads—are languishing in terminal neglect.
Even though past institutions like the College of Education and Lagos Polytechnic have been administratively upgraded into full-fledged universities (namely, the Lagos State University of Education [LASUED] and the Lagos State University of Science and Technology [LASPOTECH]), the overarching physical environment and structural maintenance have deteriorated sharply.
Local government councils have been rendered toothless, structurally emasculated, and completely incapacitated. Why can’t they evacuate waste? Why are our commercial nerve centers buried under decomposing refuse? Why has a state blessed with immense internally generated revenue degenerated into a monument of administrative inertia?
Governance Failure: Sanitation, Infrastructure, and Grassroots Paralysis
When an urban centre of global significance collapses under the weight of its own refuse, the failure is neither accidental nor transient; it is structural and systemic. The core crisis of contemporary Lagos lies in the systematic dismantling of local governance structures.
In any functional federation, the local government tier is uniquely positioned to handle localized sanitation, tenement management, and neighborhood-level waste collection. Yet, under the present administration, local councils have been reduced to mere administrative ciphers, financially emasculated and stripped of the autonomy required to keep their communities clean.
Private Sector Participation (PSP) waste management operators struggle under crippling bureaucratic bottlenecks, delayed subsidies, and a lack of infrastructural backing. The Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) has proven largely incapable of meeting the refuse disposal demands of a surging mega-city population.
Consequently, major highways, secondary roads, and street corners have been converted into unauthorized, permanent waste dumps. This environmental degradation directly threatens public health. Rainwater washes toxic leachate from these rotting refuse heaps directly into open drainage channels, polluting the lagoon, contaminating the water table, and exposing millions of residents to preventable waterborne and airborne diseases. It is a slow-motion public health emergency happening in broad daylight.
The Contrast of Priorities: Substance vs. Spectacle
Governance must be measured by the tangible quality of life it delivers to the ordinary citizen, not by flashy billboards, high-sounding slogans, or stage-managed media commissioning ceremonies.
When school children in Agege and Ipaja must wade through flooded, waste-clogged gutters to reach crumbling classrooms with leaking roofs, the promise of a “Smart City” is revealed as a cruel illusion. When traders in Idumota and Akpongbon conduct their daily commerce surrounded by towering mountains of garbage, the state government’s claims of economic excellence ring hollow.
Jakande’s administration proved that with discipline, prudent resource management, and profound empathy for the common man, monumental challenges could be overcome within a short span of four years. He did not build his legacy on empty media optics; he built it on enduring physical infrastructure, robust institutions, and a genuine commitment to public welfare.
Deepening the Critique: Urban Planning and Social Neglect
The regression of Lagos is further mirrored in the state of its mass housing projects. During the Second Republic, Jakande’s administration constructed over 30,000 low-cost housing units across diverse locations—including Ijaiye, Dolphin, Oke-Afa, Abesan, Amuwo-Odofin, Ipaja, and Iba.
These communities were designed to provide shelter and dignity to low-income earners, civil servants, and the working class. Today, many of these same housing estates are plagued by infrastructural decay, failing sewage systems, unpaved internal roads, and encroaching commercial shanties.
The disconnect between the ruling elite in Alausa and the everyday realities of ordinary Lagosians has never been wider. While billions are funneled into elite ego massaging beautification projects, densely populated settlements on the mainland are left to rot in filth.
The failure to maintain basic public infrastructure—ranging from public libraries to health centers and technical schools—has created an environment where youth unemployment, social despair, and urban decay thrive unchecked.
Reinventing the Centre of Excellence
Lagos State stands at a critical historical crossroads. It remains the undeniable commercial heartbeat of West Africa and a financial engine room that the rest of the continent looks up to.
It cannot continue to wallow as the capital of filth, structural decay, and administrative indifference.
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu must be called to order. The current environmental tragedy is an undeniable indictment of executive capability.
The state requires an immediate, comprehensive, and aggressive overhaul of its waste management architecture, the full restoration of true local government financial and operational autonomy, and a return to the disciplined, people-centric philosophy of governance exemplified by Alhaji Lateef Jakande.
The City of Excellence deserves true leadership, rigorous urban planning, and environmental dignity. History is watching, and the judgment of the people will be unsparing.
*Erasmus Ikhide contributed this piece via: ikhideluckyerasmus@gmail.com
Tell: +2348035032123. WhatsApp only.