Environment
Stakeholders Hail Amendment Of Lagos Environment Law
Stakeholders in the environment sector in Lagos State on Thursday lauded the state House of Assembly for proposing an amendment to the Environmental law to empower the Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA).
The stakeholders gave the commendation at a One-Day Public Hearing on “A Law to Amend the Environmental Management and Protection Law, 2017,’’ organised by the House Committee on the Environment, headed by Mr Dayo Saka-Fafunmi (APC-Ifako-Ijaiye I).
According to the stakeholders, such step is apt and timely to ensure a cleaner and healthier environment in the state following the failure of the Cleaner Lagos Initiative.
Mr Olugbenga Adebola, an Environmentalist said: “I will like to commend the proactive Lagos State House of Assembly members for this amendment.
“For a long part of 2016 and 2017, we had a big issue in the environment family. It is good that more power be given to LAWMA as the regulator. I hope LAWMA should be able to manage this. I commend the House.’’
Adebola urged the House not to jettison the private sector in the board’s constitution and look into cost recovery level, and enforcement.
Mr Kadiri Shamusideen, a safety expert, who also commended the House for the amendment, called for efforts on the health and safety of PSP operators in the field.
Shamusideen, Executive Director, Safety Advocacy and Empowerment Foundation, decried various unsafe practices of the operators on the highways, trucks and dump sites, which was corroborated by another expert, Mr Adegbenro Adu.
Mr Olalekan Owojori, a Consultant to PSP, who noted that waste management was service-oriented, called the House to look into how money for the services rendered by the operators would get to them.
Owojori, who frowned at PSP depending on government bureaucracy before getting money for the services provided, called for a system that would allow the service providers to collect their .
Mr Adedotun Oriowo, a PSP operator, said: “I salute the House for the impeccable sense of responsibility. We are here to right some wrongs of the outgoing Lagos State Government.
“The Cleaner Lagos Initiative distorted waste management operations in Lagos State. It should be expunged from waste management in Lagos State.’’
In his contribution, Mr Ola Oresanya, the Chief Executive Officer of LAWMA, said: “If the law is wrong, everything will be wrong.
“I want to thank the Chairman of the committee for this painstaking effort to correct the wrong. The intendment of this amendment is genuine and germane,’’ he said.
According to Oresanya, the authority will submit a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), especially on the functions of Public Utilities Monitoring and Assurance Unit (PUMAU) bothering on waste management and revenue collection.
Mr Idowu Salau, a Consultant with the Federal Government on Waste Management, who commended the House, harped on cost recovery and identified user charge system and property charge system.
In his comment, Mr Ola Egbeyemi, President of the Association of Waste Managers (AWAN) thanked the House “for this noble gesture’’.
“We have good laws but those laws are found ineffective because of enforcement. We should thank the lawmakers for revisiting this controversial law that have actually caused a lot of retrogression,’’ Egbeyemi said.
In his welcome address, the Chairman of the Committee, Saka-Fafunmi said that extant law passed in 2017 could not meet expectations as discovered during impact assessment analysis.
“We cannot have a law that is not serving the interest of Lagos and that is why we propose several amendments. The amendment essentially bothers more on LAWMA law.
“As at when the law was made, we were looking
President, Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), Mrs Margaret Oguntala, has inaugurated the construction of 18 units residential terrace in highbrow Alausa area of Lagos toward bridging the nation’s shelter gap.
Ministry of Water Resources and Sanitation has launched the 1GOV Enterprise Content Management System (ECMS) to enhance digital governance and improve service delivery.
The launch, held on Thursday in Abuja, marks the ministry’s transition from paper-based operations to a smart, integrated and technology-driven work environment.
The Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, Prof. Joseph Utsev, said the deployment aligns with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu.
Utsev said the system would improve data management, streamline workflows and strengthen transparency and accountability across the ministry.
According to him, the ECMS will enhance productivity, preserve institutional memory and reduce operational costs in the ministry.
Launching the platform, the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs Didi Walson-Jack, said the initiative is a major step in public sector reform.
She said the ministry’s mandate affects Nigerians through water supply, sanitation, irrigation, river basin development and climate resilience programmes.
Walson-Jack said the 1GOV ECMS enables secure digital records management, automated workflows, electronic approvals and real-time collaboration across MDAs.
She added that the deployment aligns with the Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan 2021–2025 and the directive for full digitalisation by December 2025.
“Effective governance cannot afford delays caused by manual bottlenecks or avoidable inefficiencies,” she said.
She directed that all official correspondence in the ministry must henceforth be processed through approved digital registry channels.
In her remarks, the Permanent Secretary, Dr Emanso Umobong, said the system would eliminate workflow inefficiencies and improve service delivery.
She urged staff to fully adopt the platform and engage in continuous capacity building.
Research shows that local communities and citizens living at the grassroots, particularly women, are directly impacted by the environmental degradation, flooding and others that result from these manifestations.
In the light of this, non-governmental organisation, Ese Usamali Foundation For Rural Development (EUFORDe), has held a forum for women and other members of oil impacted communities, tagged: ‘Voices from the Grassroots,’ and aimed at building their resilience and mitigation efforts against climate change and environmental degradation
The forum, with the theme: ‘Building Resilience for Oil Spill Impacted Ahoada Communities,’ organised with support from Global Green Grants, was held in Ahoada Community, Ahoada East Local Government Area of Rivers State, on December 5, 2025.
Executive Director of Ese Usamali Foundation For Rural Development, Mercy Elemchukwu-James, said women are at the forefront of efforts to mitigate the impact of climate change and environmental degradation.
The event, therefore, was “designed for community women impacted by oil spills, flooding and other environmental degradation,” she said.
Community women were enlightened by resource persons on new opportunities for sustainable agricultural practices and water management techniques that cushion the impact of oil spills.
Lectures were also delivered on Self-care and Trauma-care, with focus on physical and mental health of the population, and increasing access to health-related resources and services; as well as on Food security and women’s critical role in decision making in oil spill and flood situations in communities
Elemchukwu-James pointed out that the event created a forum for stakeholders, civil society actors and others to dialogue on measures at advancing inclusive and sustainable livelihoods of community women.
She stressed the need for collaborative efforts towards achieving mitigation efforts, while underscoring EUFORDe’s commitment to “fostering partnerships as a critical driver for achieving a healthy community and sustainable development.”
Elemchukwu-James described participants’ design of ‘Community Resilience Plan,’ to manage and combat environmental degradation and crises, as part of achievements recorded at the event.
The forum also witnessed the launching of EUFORDs’ Center For Resilience and Rights.
“This center is established to build resilience as Trauma-Care for victims of environmental degradation, support for survivors of Gender Based Violence (GBV) and a platform where victims of environmental injustice and other GBV cases can seek redress,” Elemchukwu-James said.
Participants celebrated the milestones achieved and charted a path toward greater impact in the coming years. They also described the event as “an inspiring and transformative experience.”
Elemchukwu-James said the awareness creation workshop “reaffirms EUFORDe’s mission to create an equitable society in which the rights and capacities of women, youth, children and underprivileged are integrated in the socio-economic planning and development of communities, for the attainment of equity and peace.