LAWMA prioritises welfare of street sweepers, says Muyiwa Gbadegesin

Muyiwa Gbadegesin, managing director and chief executive officer of the Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA), says road sweepers are treated with decency by the state government.

On March 15, a video of a road sweeper bemoaning alleged mistreatment and poor wages went viral on social media.

In the video, a lady who was dressed in LAWMA outfit, pleaded with the Lagos government to intervene in the plight of workers.

She also alleged that sweepers purchase brooms with their own money.

Speaking during an interview on ‘Your View’, a TVC programme, Gbadegesin said the woman in the video is no longer on the payroll of LAWMA, as she left the scheme several months ago.

He said road sweepers are not direct employees of LAWMA, as they are contracted on a part-time basis by third-party companies.

“If they were full-time staff, at that rate they would be making N80,000 a month, which is N10,000 above the national minimum wage. So it is untrue that the government does not care about them,” Gbadegesin said.

“Still, the sweepers are being considered for support in pursuing other alternate vocations, after their day’s jobs, towards enhancing their incomes.”

The LAWMA boss noted that road sweepers earn N40,000 for four hours of work daily, which, if scaled to full-time work, would exceed the national minimum wage of N70,000 per month.

He said the workers also enjoy government welfare benefits and are the targets of empowerment schemes aimed at enhancing their incomes.

Gbadegesin promised to investigate any claims of workers being shortchanged by third-party companies.

“The street-sweeping programme is a flagship initiative of LAWMA, and the government has consistently prioritised their welfare. We recently introduced health checkups, and upon discovering that some sweepers had vision problems, we arranged for free cataract surgeries,” he added.

“Beyond wages, LAWMA is also implementing biometric registration for the sweepers through the Lagos State Residents Registration Agency (LASRA) to facilitate their access to health insurance (ILERA EKO) and other social support programmes.

“We are moving into a political space now. This is two years to 2027. So you’re going to see a lot of this.

“As such, the activities of naysayers should not be overlooked, particularly as we are entering into a political season in which discontent — as expressed in some videos — is being weaponised to discredit the government.”