A back-and-forth has ensued between the Lagos State Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, and the Labour Party Lagos State governorship candidate in the 2023 election, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour.
This
began after Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, issued a directive for
the immediate scale-up of waste evacuation across the state following the
recent buildup of refuse in some parts of the state.
“LAWMA,
LASEPA, and the Ministry of Environment are currently working around the clock.
We have deployed extra trucks and personnel to clear the backlogs across all
affected neighbourhoods. You should already see progress on the streets, and we
will not stop until our city is completely clean again,” Sanwo-Olu said.
Reacting,
Rhodes-Vivour, who lost the 2023 election to Sanwo-Olu, described the
governor’s directive as an admission of failure, not a solution.
Sharing
on X, he stated that Lagosians do not need periodic emergency evacuations of
mountains of refuse. “What they need is a functional waste management system
that prevents waste from accumulating in the first place,” he said.
He
lamented that for years, residents have endured overflowing dumps, uncollected
refuse, blocked drainage channels, and worsening environmental conditions
despite billions of naira allocated to environmental management.
“The
fact that you now have to ‘direct an immediate scale-up’ after waste has
already overwhelmed communities is an utter failure of leadership,”
Rhodes-Vivour said.
Responding,
Commissioner Wahab reminded Rhodes-Vivour of the humongous task Lagos faces in
terms of waste collection.
He
said Lagos generates about 13,000 tonnes of waste every day, adding that in May
alone, LAWMA and PSP operators evacuated about 418,500 tonnes of waste across
the state, averaging about 13,200 tonnes daily.
“That
is not a small operation. It involves hundreds of PSP operators, public waste
teams, transfer and disposal operations, street sweepers, enforcement teams,
customer service staff, drivers, loaders, supervisors and monitoring officers
working across a very large and difficult city,” Wahab said.
The
commissioner further explained LAWMA’s efforts towards waste disposal, which he
said had been scaled up, especially in blackspot areas.
Pushing
back, Rhodes-Vivour demanded impact and not explanation, just as he accused
Wahab of bigotry and demanded his resignation.
He
said, “Mr. Wahab, Impact is felt, not explained in 1,578 words. Your plastic
policy has failed. Your environmental policy, if one truly exists, has been
ineffective. Your waste management policy has been an unmitigated disaster. The
only area where you have consistently delivered is the demolition of the
hard-earned properties and livelihoods of ordinary citizens. Not to mention
your Bigotry and Gaslighting. You have lost the moral authority to remain in
office. You should resign. Today.”
Displeased
that Rhodes-Vivour called him a bigot, Wahab revealed that he had no interest
in descending into the “mudslinging and distractions you appear to thrive on”,
but is focused on supporting the efforts of the Lagos State Government to
ensure the safety, well-being, and prosperity of Lagosians
He,
however, called Rhodes-Vivour by his Igbo name, Chinedu, which was used against
him during the 2023 election. Wahab then shared Rhodes-Vivour’s past social
media posts, which promoted the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra
(IPOB) and also the defunct Biafra Republic
He
concluded, “As for the labels and accusations, I will leave others to judge
them on their merits. I have no intention of engaging in personal attacks or
trading insults with a political nomad driven by ignorance and needless hatred.
I wish you all the best.”
0 Comments:
Post a Comment