Gibbie | Icademee.ng

AN IDEA FOR A CLEANER LAGOS! I've been thinking about the dirty environment situation in Lagos after experiencing it first-hand on Sunday on my way to Mile-2 from Oshodi. It got me thinking: people complain about how dirty their environment is, especially online, but complaining doesn't necessarily make people take responsibility for keeping it clean. I also realised that people actually don't care about their environment especially in the market. WHAT IF WE APPROACH THE PROBLEM DIFFERENTLY? First, government needs to determine what cleanliness is actually worth to the city. Not just define what a "clean street" means, but understand the economic and social value of having cleaner communities and how much government is willing to invest in achieving and maintaining that standard. Then create a system that makes people care about their surroundings. One such system is with communal incentives/competitions. And we can starts at the LOcal government level. Streets within each LCDA/LGA could compete against one another based on clearly defined cleanliness standards. Things like: • Proper waste disposal • Clean streets and public spaces • Functional and unobstructed drainage • No illegal dumping • Proper use of dumpsters • Consistent waste collection • Community participation • Maintaining the standard over time Communities earn points based on verified performance. Those points don't have to be cash. They can be accumulated and redeemed for community improvements from a government-approved reward catalogue, streets or communities with better points could even get rewards from the state catalogue. For example: 500 points → sanitation equipment/bins 1,000 points → beautification 2,000 points → street lighting 3,000 points → trees/green spaces 5,000 points → a larger community improvement The important part is that the reward belongs to the community. If my street is competing for a streetlight, better drainage or some other improvement, I now have a reason to tell my neighbour: "Please don't dump that here. We're trying to win." People become watchdogs of their own environment because everyone has something to gain. Markets can have their own competition too. Markets within an LCDA/LGA can compete based on cleanliness, waste management, drainage, hygiene and how well traders maintain the environment. Winning markets earn points towards improvements that benefit the traders and customers. But government still has to do its part. You can't ask communities to keep their environment clean without providing the structures to make that possible. There needs to be: • Properly positioned dumpsters • Frequent evacuation of waste • Adequate waste disposal infrastructure • Functional drainage • Reliable waste collection • Enforcement against illegal dumping And I don't think existing LAWMA cleaners need to disappear because of this. They can become an even bigger part of the system — inspecting communities, coordinating sanitation efforts, verifying reports and monitoring standards. Humans should remain heavily involved. Technology, including drones, can be used as an additional verification tool. Transparency would also be important. Inspection results, rankings, complaints, waste collection failures and completed community rewards should be publicly documented. Residents should be able to post evidence of overflowing dumpsters, illegal dumping, blocked drainage or exceptionally clean areas. Social media reports shouldn't automatically determine scores, but they can trigger verification. The model becomes: Government provides the infrastructure. Environmental workers inspect and coordinate. Communities participate and maintain. Communities compete. Good performance earns community benefits. And the cycle continues. The first question isn't even "how many points should a street get?" It's: What is cleanliness worth to Lagos? ↓↓↓