The Lagos State Government has slammed the member of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Ushie Uguamaye, for stating that “Lagos is smelling.”
In a chat with our correspondent, the Director, Public Affairs of the Lagos State Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources, Kunle Adesina, stated that despite seeing Lagos as smelly, the corps member still goes about enjoying the night life the city has to provide as seen in her TikTok videos.
He said those who hold such view are actually the ones who troop into Lagos in droves to put undue pressure on the infrastructure in the state.
“They can always say whatever they want to say, but what they fail to realise is that it is the same people who come into Lagos in droves, in thousands on a daily basis, that make a mess of all the steps that the state government is always putting in place. Yes, they are the ones.
“When we say there should be no street trading, they are the same ones who carry backpack on their back, who come into Lagos with no family, no kind of lineage, or where to put their head at night and sleep. They are the ones selling at the bus stops or even in the traffic. They are the ones messing up the roads with open defecation. They are the ones who engage in it, and at the same time they turn around to accuse the government of not doing what is right.
“They are the same people who make a mess of all the programs and plans to put in place, and when you try to even use the long hands of the law on them, people keep shouting, the government is too draconian. You are applying force
“You can’t stop them; they will tell you they are citizens of Nigeria which allows free movement, free exit for everybody. There is no law that says ‘Mister, you cannot come from Sokoto or from Anambra State to Lagos.’ You can’t stop them.
“Their influx is part of what has put some of the undue pressures on our social social infrastructure. So me, I won’t be the one to to be propagating all the nonsensical thought she talked about. I’ve seen several pictures of the lady in night clubs and all the rest, enjoying herself in the same Lagos,” he said.
Further speaking, he said despite what such people think about Lagos, global organisations have always rated the state in good light.
On the corps member’s claim that the cost of living in Lagos is too high, Adeshina pointed out that the situation is not peculiar to the state alone.
He said, “If you say things are too expensive, global recession is not only about Lagos. I remember the last time I had opportunity of traveling. What normally buy for $1, when we went there, they were selling for five, six, 10 dollars. When I asked the people, they said, well, it’s not only in Nigerian, the issue is global.”
He said the life on the island and places like Lekki is not meant for everyone, just as he urged people to live within their means.
