NGO partners Lawma, others to clear drainage in Agege

The African Cleanup Initiative (ACI), says it has partnered with the Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) and Aspire Coronation Trust (ACT)  Foundation to clear drainage in six communities in Agege, Lagos state.

The Chief Executive Officer of ACI, Mr Alexander Akhigbe, said this on Sunday after clearing drainage in some Agege communities, with the support of LAWMA, ACT Foundation and Voice of Agage Youths in the state.

According to him, the cleanup of some parts of Agege area is part of the project known as the cleanup Nigerian project, where the organisation cleans up community at a time.

“Since 2010, the organisation has been able to clean up 22 communities at different times and we are stepping into Agege area for the first time this year.

“For us, cleaning of environment to guarantee healthy living is a culture and also a platform to mobilise people to give back to the community where they leave.

“The community service comes as a passion, to me after clearing up Ajegunle area, people encouraged me to continue and here I am now with other people’s support, we have been able to cleanup 22 communities in Lagos,” Akhigbe said.

He said that the cleanup was usually a community engaging method to enable residents participate in the cleanup.
Akhigbe commended all the volunteers for their continuous support which he said had given the organisation strength to move on with the community services.

The Assistant Director of LAWMA, Mrs Bola Adewunmi, who distributed the trash bags for sorting waste, commended Lagos State Government for supporting organisations that were ready to support a cleaner Lagos project.

According to her, LAWMA has also provided a truck to pack all the refuse immediately after the cleanup.
“Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State is so passionate about the environment, particularly relative to solid waste management which is one of his six-point agenda of his administration.

“What LAWMA does is to propagate to the entire populace, to ensure a cleaner environment and avoid dumping refuse in the drainage on the street,” Adewunmi said.

She said that LAWMA has educated Agege residents on the need to always bag their waste, adding that the recyclable waste should be kept in the purple bag while the organic waste should be kept in the black bag.

The ACI coordinator in Agege Mr Munnir Adams, commended the effort of the effort of Voice of Agege youths for partnering with ACT Foudation to clean up gutters and drainage in six communities which such as Ijaye, Market, Balogun, Stadium and two others.

Adams said that the essence of the exercise was to enable Agege residents adopt better waste management and live in a cleaner environment.