Lagos to recruit 377 ‘wole-wole’ to tackle waste challenge

The Lagos State Waste Management Agency (LAWMA) has revealed plans to recruit 377 environmental health officers, aka wole-wole, as part of the new drive of the government to tame the waste challenge in the state.

In the past, sanitary inspectors, known as wole-wole in Yorubaland, Nwaole-ala among the Igbo, and duba-gari among the Hausa, were government officials responsible for overseeing the sanitation of houses and neighbourhoods across Nigeria.

The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of LAWMA, Dr Muyiwa Gbadegesin, while speaking at a media parley in Lagos, said reviving the old environmental sanitation system will help in addressing the rising waste issue in the state.

He said recruitment will begin from January 2026, and the officers will be deployed to each ward in the state.

“Mr. Governor granted us an approval to engage 377 environmental health officers.

“That means we are going to have one in each ward. And if you are familiar with the environmental law, the environmental health officers, alias wole-wole, of the olden days, they have a lot of powers. They can take you to court, they can prosecute and put you to jail if you violate any of the environmental laws.

“By the time we have one in each ward, we now empower them so that we go back to those old systems. That’s the kind of enforcement system I think you are asking for,” he said.

The LAWMA Chief said the state requires at least 2,000 tricycle compactors to tackle the waste challenge, especially in the hard-to-reach areas of the state.

According to him, the state generates between 13,000 and 15,000 tonnes of waste daily, out of which 4,000 to 5,000 tonnes are collected by 450 Private Sector Partnership (PSP) operators.

“The balance is going into the drains, canals, lagoons, and wetlands, among others.

“We have about 12 percent of wetlands in Lagos, and people have been dumping waste on the wetlands,” Gbadegesin said.

Gbadegesin disclosed that about 22 PSP operators had been fired for inefficiency in the collection of waste.

The LAWMA boss described infrastructure as the biggest challenge in the state’s waste management system.

“The biggest issue right now in waste management is the infrastructure.

“When I talk of infrastructure, I am talking about the equipment and facilities that we will use to collect, transport, treat, and dispose of the 13,000 tonnes of waste generated daily in the state.

“The infrastructure includes the whole logistics chain from the bins. Risk management begins from the containerization, the households, business, and the industry.

“We don’t have enough bins. Right now, we have 80,000 smart bins that we are rolling out, and we need a lot more,” he said.

Gbadegesin added that the agency has been working closely with the council chairmen across the state to take charge of waste management and street trading in their areas.

He said at least 25 councils have already created waste management task forces as part of the synergy with LAWMA.

Gbadegesin said that LAWMA would continue to work with relevant stakeholders to ensure a cleaner Lagos.

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