Enforce laws with human face, coalition urges govt

A global coalition for democracy has faulted some of the policies being executed by the Lagos State Government, such as serving eviction notices and the recent ban on Styrofoam, without considering their adverse effects on the residents of the state.

The group, during the commemoration of Partners for Democracy Day organised by BudgiT on Tuesday, charged Nigerians not to be discouraged from questioning their political leaders for better governance.

On January 21, 2024, the state government, through the Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, had explained that a ban was placed on single-use plastics, especially non-biodegradable styrofoam, because of their adverse environmental impacts.

The government had also recently intensified the demolition of shanties in parts of the state, including Obalende Under-Bridge, to rid the environment of danger.

However, speaking  during the BudgiT event, the  co-founder of Rethinking Cities, an advocacy network that communicates innovation to solve urban challenges, Mr. Deji Akinpelu, urged the government to give law enforcement a human face.

Akinpelu said, “If the government finds a group of people living somewhere and they are not supposed to be there, what have they done in pre-eviction? Did you collect their data? Did you try to survey where they are from? I have seen eviction notices in Oworonshoki, saying they don’t have a good toilet, so they had to leave.

“The commissioner just woke up and said styrofoam plastic was banned. Interestingly, I was with some environmentalists who described the decision as good. And I asked them what was good about the decision. There is also an SDG goal of fighting poverty. Of course, the commissioner gave a three-week notice, which I think was not even sufficient. We are trying to get citizens more critical of the government. The fact that you think it doesn’t concern you will not make you critical of the government.”

Also speaking, a former 2015 presidential flag bearer of the KOWA party, Prof. Yemi Sonaiya, decried the state of the country despite the resourcefulness of its people while advising that Nigerians should elect the right people for elective posts.

She said, “We have a lot of human and natural endowment. I am wowed by Nigerians personally and the world recognises that Nigerians are talented people. We are unusually gifted and talented.

“We owe the world an explanation, if not an apology, for being in the state that we are in because it is so incongruous and unbelievable that you have people so recognised as gifted by the world, and then, on the other hand, you will see this in their country. Let us call it this. How can Nigerians be doing so well intentionally that our country will remain like this? It matters that we get the right people to public office, not people who will be debating trivial things.”