‘Perching on death’ to keep Lagos clean – Street sweepers tell their story

Every job has its own hazards. However, the degree of hazards varies from one job to another. The volume of vehicles on Lagos road and the recklessness of many drivers make street sweeping a very risky venture.

Diverse statistics say different things about the population of Lagos State. The state has nine million people living in the city “proper” and 14 million live in the urban area, says a recent statistics by Populationstat.

But based on the Un-habitat and international development agencies’ estimate, which Lagos State itself has on its website, the state had about 24.6 million inhabitants in 2015.

Whether its population is decreasing or increasing, Lagos still remains the largest city in Nigeria and also the largest city in SubSaharan Africa, hence, its waste problem.

The state generates 13,000 metric tons of waste daily. In 2018, the Association of Waste Managers of Nigeria, popularly known as Public Private Participation, said Lagos State had become one of the dirtiest cities in the world.

While the situation may have improved compared to what it was 10 years earlier, women in the state are constantly putting their lives at risk to keep the state clean.

Known as the Women in Orange Jumpsuits—sweepers in the employ of the Lagos State Waste Management Agency (LAWMA) — face serious challenges, dangers, and dehumanisation while working on Lagos road.

“The challenges that we have on that route, especially when there is traffic, is making it very difficult for us to be able to do our work perfectly,” Josephine Afeleokhai said.

Afeleokhai, who works in IpajaAyobo for LAWMA, told BusinessDay SUNDAY in a conversation that she has observed that the makers of the laws end up violating traffic rules.

She recalls confronting a policeman who drove through one way towards her while she was sweeping.

“He just started laughing, and then apologised,” she said. But in another instance, traffic violators jeer at them.

“There is nothing we can do. Sometimes, all these Keke NAPEP (tricycles) and Okada, (commercial bikes) hit our cone away from the road. They drag it away and we have to run after them to retrieve it so that we can use it again,” she adds.

She told Businessday SUNDAY that she loves her job because it gives her a lot of time to rest and also attend to other things and she enjoys doing it.

But her children do not like it because it involves a lot of risks and exposes her and her colleagues to physical abuses.

Coupled with that, she said, she had also escaped death by a reckless tricycle driver, and saved her colleague who would have been knocked down by a vehicle reversing toward her.

“I had to pull her away before it got really close to hitting her. Then we both ran away,” she said.

Olanike Okunowo, a single mother and a sweeper complained of physical assault by some commercial bus conductors.

According to her, one of her colleagues was sweeping when suddenly a conductor kicked her in the butt.

She added that their signage are sometimes carted away or kicked aside, and motorists violate traffic laws and drive recklessly.

“When the road gets blocked, I usually stop working for a while until it is clear. Sometimes, after sweeping, someone else will drop dirt immediately. When you confront them, they tell you that you are being paid to sweep.

“Some police and army officers are also doing this. A Nigerian Army officer dropped a wrap of sausage roll and pet bottle after consuming the contents.

“I asked him why he didn’t call me to give me the waste after eating. But he said he would slap me,” Okunowo recalls her experience.

Kadijat Adekunle, another sweeper in Ayobo said their job needs policing if they must function effectively and safely.

Adekunle, also a student of Mass Communication of the National Open University, complained about high level of disregard from residents and inhumane treatment as residents dump refuse with reckless abandon, while they are still working at a particular place.

According to her, some people regard them as people who eat from the trash. As a result, one of her colleagues had an altercation with a resident who said she eats from the trash.

“She was heartbroken after the incident,” she said. “If there is policing, I think our job will have a facelift.”

The mother of two also mentioned the issue of motorists. “We have issues of hit and run. It has not been easy, but we just have to caution ourselves and keep safe. We have so many hazards in our job.”

Reckless driving has claimed the lives of many sweepers. A sweeper identified as Bisi lost her life in 2015, when a vehicle knocked her off the Third Mainland Bridge to the ground.

She was killed by a military officer who was said to be on speed when his tyre burst and the vehicle somersaulted several times. The accident occurred behind Kam Salem House, the police headquarters annex at the Obalende.

In 2014, a pregnant road sweeper, identified as Kikelomo Bamidele working with (LAWMA) was crushed to death by a petrol tanker with registration number Kano NSR 592 YQ along Lagos-ibadan expressway.

Also, on November 3, 2018, a road sweeper was killed by a driver along Osborne Road, Ikoyi. It was reported that the driver ran over her after losing control of the vehicle, killing her instantly.

Last year, a female sweeper was killed at her duty post at Ojuelegba, Surulere, Lagos.

In January this year, another sweeper known as Tawa Ariyo, escaped death by a whisker, after being crushed to a stationary petrol tanker by a motorist conveying a woman said to be the wife of a soldier.

The Managing Director of LAWMA, Ibrahim Odumboni at an event held recently in honour of the women, revealed that a sweeper was killed along Ikorodu road on 18, November 2020, by a hit-andrun driver.

“I’ll like us to observe a minute of silence for one our sweepers that we lost this morning,” he demanded in his welcome speech.

The Nigerian Xpress quoted a report by LAWMA, stating that between 2007 and 2010, 57 street sweepers were killed in car accidents while carrying out their duties.

Questions sent to Odumboni through the public relations officer, Hakeem Akinleye were not responded to as of the time of filing this report, making it difficult for Businessday SUNDAY to ascertain the current situation regarding the total number of deaths the organisation has recorded so far.

But, at the event, where Odumboni was invited to speak, he told our correspondent that his organisation had taken steps to protect their 15,000 sweepers in the state who are mostly the women in jumpsuits.

This correspondent learnt that the management of LAWMA has insured every member under the “LAWMA CEO” program. The insurance policy which began from July 17, 2020, covers death while in active service; permanent disability and medical expenses.

In addition to providing sweepers with personal protective equipment, he said that his organisation is also challenging their supervisors to ensure that while they are sweeping, their supervisors need to keep an eye on the road to look out for dangers for them.

Odumboni further called on motorists to pay attention to the road when driving, and more so when a sweeper is on the road, adding that it was very essential to pay extra attention because “they are not there to suffer any fatality.”

“We need to be very responsible in the way we drive and act. I want to appeal to every motorist in Lagos to pay as much attention as possible to the way you drive when all these ‘heroes’ are on the roads. They are the mothers of someone, they are daughters of people. So, it is very important that we keep their safety in check.

“At LAWMA, we’ll review all welfare and safety measures to find a way to improve that, and then we monitor how they are adhering to safety measures as well,” he said.

But for the women, the solution should go beyond organisational policies. They want government sensitise and get residents to treat them better—like human beings, they said.

The women said when residents finish drinking, they throw the containers at them, and they want an end to it and also want to be treated with dignity.

“Some of them see us as wretched people. They see us as nobodies, as people who don’t have families. But to be sincere, I want them to see us as who they are.

“Even if you are driving in a Lexus, see that this person sweeping can be at that level also. See us as a member of their families, they should have regard for us and respect us because we are also human beings like you all,” said Afeleokhai, who revealed that some sweepers are degree holders.