The Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA) has warned that rapid population growth is increasing pollution pressures in the state and has advocated wider adoption of cleaner energy and recycling systems to address environmental challenges.

The general manager of LASEPA, Babatunde Ajayi, made the call on Friday in Lagos to commemorate the 2026 World Environment Day.

Mr Ajayi identified population growth as one of the major environmental challenges confronting Lagos.

“With population comes pollution,” he said.

According to him, rising population figures lead to higher waste generation, emissions, and noise pollution across the state.

He said the government was expanding waste management strategies to cope with rising waste volumes and tightening environmental standards for new religious, commercial and entertainment facilities.

“We’re ensuring that these new facilities coming up are soundproof,” Mr Ajayi said.

He stressed the need for compliance with environmental regulations from the planning stage of projects to minimise environmental degradation.

Mr Ajayi said changing public behaviour remained critical to achieving long-term environmental sustainability, noting that environmental compliance had improved across regulated sectors.

“The change of culture doesn’t come overnight; it takes a while,” he said.

According to him, enforcement remains one of the agency’s most effective tools for encouraging compliance and discouraging environmental violations.

“We’re not going to get everybody to comply immediately,” he said.

Mr Ajayi said LASEPA had intensified public awareness campaigns alongside enforcement measures to promote environmental responsibility among residents and businesses.

“Ultimately, people will change with the deepening enforcement and the extensive advocacy we are doing,” he said.

The LASEPA boss also identified the adoption of cleaner energy as a practical way to reduce pollution in Lagos.

“One easy thing to improve upon is the adoption of green power,” he said.

Mr Ajayi encouraged residents and small business owners to embrace solar energy and inverter systems as alternatives to fuel-powered generators, noting that such a shift would significantly reduce air and noise pollution.

Also speaking, the president of the Association of Scraps and Waste Pickers of Lagos, Friday Oku, said expanding recycling systems could create jobs for youths and women while helping to address environmental challenges.

Mr Oku said waste pickers played a critical role in Nigeria’s recycling value chain by recovering recyclable materials from streets, drainage channels and dumpsites, thereby reducing pollution and improving urban sanitation.

“We are the strength of recycling because without us, there is no circular economy,” he said.

He said strengthening recycling systems would generate more economic opportunities, particularly for youths and women, adding that participation in the sector was increasing.

“Even now, a lot of youth and women are coming into the sector,” he said.

Mr Oku urged governments at all levels to formally integrate informal waste workers into environmental planning and strengthen the implementation of waste management policies to improve resource recovery and reduce pollution. 

(NAN)