“Inside LAWMA’s Rot: Citizens Group Exposes Alleged Mismanagement, Neglect and Looming Health Disaster in Lagos”

“We cannot continue to subsidise inefficiency and failure with our hard-earned money. Lagos residents deserve dignity, cleanliness, and fairness,” the statement declared, in what observers describe as one of the most scathing public condemnations yet of the Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) and its leadership.

In an explosive statement that reads like an indictment, the Citizens Action Network accused LAWMA of presiding over what it termed a “deepening waste management collapse,” alleging systemic inefficiency, operational negligence, and a troubling lack of accountability at the highest levels of the agency. The group claimed that despite rising levies and payments by residents, waste continues to pile up across communities, raising serious questions about how resources are being managed.

According to the organisation, LAWMA’s failures are no longer isolated lapses but point to a broader pattern of institutional breakdown. It alleged that the agency’s leadership has failed to enforce standards among operators, neglected critical infrastructure, and allowed a system riddled with inefficiencies to persist unchecked leaving millions of Lagosians exposed to unsanitary conditions.

The group further warned that the consequences of this “administrative rot” could be catastrophic, citing the growing risk of disease outbreaks, environmental degradation, and a looming public health emergency if urgent corrective measures are not taken.

Directing its demands squarely at LAWMA’s leadership and its supervising authorities, the Citizens Action Network issued a 30-day ultimatum to the Lagos State Government and the Ministry of Environment to initiate a full-scale overhaul of the waste management system. It insisted that anything short of decisive intervention would amount to complicity in what it described as a “preventable crisis.”

“This is no longer about policy failure it is about accountability, transparency, and the right of citizens to live in a clean and safe environment,” the statement emphasised.

The statement was signed by Ade-Adewunmi Adeoye, National Public Relations Officer of the Citizens Action Network, and reinforced with the organisation’s rallying call: “For the People, By the People.”