The streets of Apapa, the bustling Lagos city where the federal and state governments generate more than N3 trillion annually in direct and indirect tax revenues, have become home to heaps of refuse, offal and sickening filth.
A visit to Apapa, which is home to Nigeria’s largest seaports – the Lagos Port Complex and the Tin Can Island Port Complex – exposes large heaps of domestic refuse carelessly dumped on narrow streets, causing traffic delays and constituting major health hazards to residents and the port community.
Residents blame the Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA), the leadership of Apapa Local Government and the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) for the filthy environment, despite the enormous revenue they derive from the city.
“LAWMA has continually been apathetic to the removal of this mounted refuse, and this is the rainy season where we have recorded many calamities caused by floods. It is easier to blame port users for not disposing of their refuse appropriately, but what about the ones dropped in the available bins, have they come to remove it?” a roadside food vendor, Victoria Chidozie, queried.
