Obalende's canal crisis: A test of Lagos' commitment to cleanliness

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Transcript

00:00Is Lagos getting cleaner? No. All Lagosians know. Right under Obalende Bridge, a major canal

00:07meant to drain water out of the area has become a dumping ground. Sand, plastic, and thick dirt

00:17have completely blocked the flow, turning what should be a clean waterway into a flood threat.

00:25On March 23rd, Lagos Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, Tokumbo Wahab, announced that the

00:37cleanup of McGregor Channel in Obalende had begun. In his words, keeping drainage channels clear

00:45is key to avoiding floods, especially with the rainy season approaching. However, this isn't

00:54peculiar to Obalende alone. As the Lagos state government works to improve the city's infrastructure

01:01and cleanliness, we are out on the streets of Lagos to hear the takes of residents on the city's cleanliness.

01:08Yes, they are trying. In a month, let me just say maybe twice or three times in a month. They sweep here, they pack up

01:16the sand, pack up the dirt.

01:18No, no.

01:21It's not.

01:23It's not going to wake up to the city'seto site.

01:28But if you want to.

01:29is lagos getting cleaner no all lagosians know and i don't think it's going to get any better

01:53soon except they work on some things like i i grew up in jaws i was born in jaws there is this like

01:59small small does being used to have around the streets of jaws that we don't refuse and then in

02:06lagos there is nothing like that and the population here is very high for us to be able to be risking

02:12such an unhealthy life we live well we in lagos were very unhealthy we don't accept that fact but

02:17that's the truth and then for second for the second point is the drinking system is very poor for a

02:23state that is like over 50 percent of lagos is water-based most areas you have to sandfield

02:30before they will be able to like build houses on it and then the rainy season is here shallow drainage

02:38system and then for states that large population death and everything when it comes to the raining

02:44season there is already dead everywhere from the dry season and then water everywhere everywhere is

02:48blocked so lagos state government have to work on if we can prove if they can like provide baskets

02:55around these streets of lagos i think it will help and then secondly work on the drainage system because

03:00it's very shallow trust me from here even islanders oh we are suffering it so that's how the question is

03:06lagos getting cleaner i would say it is not because i just i just experienced some i don't know what i don't

03:16know what to call it some dirty environment just few minutes ago i passed through marina are we in

03:23marina yes marina and the place is very dirty and smelly it is smelling and i think the government should

03:32do so many they have so many things to do for me lagos is partially clean but not unrepresented clean

03:38then the one of the shortcomings of making lagos very very clean can be the energy thing there you

03:47know it's not everybody that likes to pick dead and trash it into the can but they just introduced an

03:53equipment that is attached to a dead to a trash can so if we can afford that i think it will be easier for

04:02we for us to keep lagos clean because this trash can is attached to the equipment it's like a lift

04:07it goes up gravity and it comes down so it takes all the dirt and trash them in the bin so that's my

04:15opinion you've heard it from the people some believe lagos is on the path of cleanliness citing government

04:23initiatives and improved waste management others say the change is simply too slow clearly

04:32a clean lagos isn't just the job of the government it's a shared responsibility between the authorities

04:39and the people