Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has directed the demolition of shanties and makeshift structures along the median of the Lagos-Badagry Expressway, giving occupants 72 hours to vacate the area ahead of a planned enforcement exercise.
Mr Sanwo-Olu announced the directive on Saturday after leading the state’s monthly environmental sanitation exercise in Surulere Local Government Area alongside his wife, Ibijoke.
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He said enforcement officials would begin clearing the structures next week, describing the occupation of the highway median as illegal and incompatible with the purpose of the multi-billion-naira road corridor.
The governor explained that the exercise would cover the stretch from Orile-Iganmu to Okokomaiko.
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The latest directive is part of the Lagos State Government’s broader efforts to reclaim public spaces and enforce environmental regulations.
In recent months, authorities have carried out similar clearance operations targeting illegal structures and roadside shanties in different parts of the state, saying many of them obstruct public infrastructure, encourage indiscriminate waste disposal and pose security risks.
“This is the final notice to everyone occupying the median of the Lagos-Badagry Expressway. From next week, we are coming to clear the entire median. Everything there will go. Every illegal structure will be removed,” Mr Sanwo-Olu said.
“It is not meant to be a market. It is not meant to be a place where people erect structures. It is a highway median, and we must preserve it, especially considering the huge public investment in that corridor.
“It’s a 10-lane highway that was built with the resources of our taxpayers. I will not fold my arms and allow them to turn that international gateway into a slum. This is a notice that I am giving officially to everybody in that corridor. We are starting next week, and we are going to deploy thousands of men there.”
The Lagos-Badagry Expressway is one of Nigeria’s busiest transport corridors and forms part of the Trans-West African Coastal Highway linking Lagos to neighbouring West African countries. The state government has consistently described the road as a strategic economic gateway whose right-of-way must be protected from encroachment.
Speaking on waste management, Mr Sanwo-Olu said the state would soon add 150 compactors to its waste collection fleet, while waste collection tricycles would be deployed to inner communities to strengthen refuse evacuation.
He added that the government was investing in long-term waste processing infrastructure, including a modern material recovery and recycling facility capable of processing about 4,250 metric tonnes of waste daily.
The governor urged residents to support the government’s efforts through responsible waste disposal and prompt payment for waste collection services.
“Waste management is not the responsibility of the government alone. It is a collective responsibility,” he said.
“Residents must also play their part by paying for waste collection services. That is what enables the PSP operators to continue providing efficient services.”
He also encouraged parents to involve their children in sanitation activities, saying environmental responsibility should be instilled from an early age to build a cleaner and healthier Lagos.
Meanwhile, during an inspection of the Olusosun Landfill after the sanitation exercise, the Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, said the state’s long-standing “collect-and-dump” waste disposal model was no longer sustainable, hence the decision to establish a material recovery facility at the site.
According to him, the project is designed to ensure that waste generated across Lagos is converted into useful products rather than simply dumped.
READ ALSO: Commissioner apologises to Lagos residents over waste management challenges
“This place will be one of the transfer loading stations that will transfer about 2,500 metric tonnes of waste a day to the material recovery facility that will be located in Ikorodu. The target is for it to commence operations before the end of the year, so we just have to come and see what they are doing,” Mr Wahab stressed.
“We can’t sustain the linear waste management system that we have practised for over four decades, which simply means we have been used to collecting and dumping. Collect and dump cannot be sustainable. Even if we leave climate issues aside, we simply do not have the land for it.
“So let us make waste a resource—for wealth, for energy, and for many other purposes. That is the transition we are going through now.”
Mr Wahab appealed to Lagos residents to support the government’s ongoing waste management reforms, saying the transition to a circular waste economy would require the cooperation of all stakeholders.
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