Lagos To Resume Monthly Environmental Sanitation Exercise(Check Date Here)

Lagos is set to resume the monthly environmental sanitation exercise.

NewsRain Nigeria reports that the Lagos State Government has reintroduced the monthly environmental sanitation exercise across the state as part of efforts to promote a cleaner and healthier environment.

The sanitation exercise was suspended in 2016 following a court ruling that struck down the compulsory restriction on movement during sanitation hours. However, under the new arrangement, residents will not be subjected to any movement restriction.

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Speaking during a sensitisation programme held on Saturday along the Mushin–Agege Motor Road corridor, organised by the Lagos State Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu announced that the monthly environmental sanitation exercise would commence on Saturday, April 25, 2026, and would hold on the last Saturday of every month from 6:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m.

The governor urged residents to comply with the directive and take greater responsibility for maintaining a clean, healthy environment.

He noted that the initiative represents a renewed effort by the state government to revive environmental consciousness among residents through voluntary participation and community action.

“A clean city is not achieved by government alone. It is built by the daily actions of the people who live in it,” he said.

Sanwo-Olu urged residents to be environmentally responsible, stressing that proper disposal of used materials, product packages, plastic bottles, and wrappers can make a significant difference.

“When waste is carelessly thrown on our streets or into our drains, it eventually returns to us in the form of flooding, environmental degradation, and public health risks,” he added.

The governor recalled that the monthly environmental sanitation exercise was once a nationwide practice observed on the last Saturday of every month, when Nigerians collectively cleaned their surroundings and cleared drainage channels.

He explained that although the court ruling ended the movement restrictions that previously accompanied the exercise, the responsibility of maintaining a clean environment remains unchanged.

“As a government, we have always respected the rule of law and the authority of our courts. But while the enforcement mechanism changed, the responsibility to maintain a clean environment did not change. That responsibility remains with all of us,” he said.

In his remarks, the Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, assured residents that the initiative would be backed by full enforcement by the state government.

He urged residents to actively participate in cleaning their communities to help reduce the risk of disease outbreaks.

Wahab added that agencies under the ministry, including the Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA), Lagos State Parks and Gardens Agency (LASPARK), Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA), and the Kick Against Indiscipline (KAI) brigade, would collaborate to strengthen the sanitation exercise and ensure a cleaner environment across the state.

He also warned residents against illegal waste disposal, trading in undesignated places, crossing highways indiscriminately, burning refuse, sleeping on bridges, patronising cart pushers, and open defecation.

Wahab stressed that the Lagos State Environmental Protection Law of 2017 remains in force and that offenders would be prosecuted in accordance with the law.