Living dangerously on highways: Ordeals of road sweepers

Lagos street sweepers, to say the least, have been unfairly treated, considering the hazards that always accompany their job. Some of them have suffered untold hardship, deaths, and injuries while at work, making them to be ‘slaves’ in their own country. Seyi Odewale looks at their plights, asking if help is on the way.

It was a Monday morning, sometime last December. A mother of two, who simply identified herself as Kafayat, and her colleagues, whom she called ‘gang,’ had just swept their various daily portions allocated to them by their supervisor on the Ikoyi Crescent, an adjoining street to Osborne Road in Ikoyi, Lagos State.

It was time for them to go, but they had no money or a vehicle to ferry them from the eyebrow Ikoyi Island to their different homes on the mainland. Therefore, they resorted to asking for hands out, tips from passers-by, or motorists who could give them a lift, which most times did not yield any positive response. They were often treated with unimaginable scorn.

Waving their lemon jumpsuits to flag down motorists who could give them a lift, they sometimes move in groups to various bus stops not far from their assigned locations, looking for someone to help.

On a closer examination, their uniforms (jumpsuits) revealed that they were sweepers of the Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA), nicknamed Highway Managers, hired to keep the streets of Lagos clean and tidy.

Kafayat and the company may appear content with their work, but what could not be hidden about them was their parlous state and the fact that they get by, surviving each day as it comes.

“My brother, what can we do? We’re just managing whatever comes our way. After all, what cannot be changed must be endured,” she said in Yoruba when responding to an inquiry.

Most of her colleagues, she said, were forced to take up the sweeper’s job because they had no choice. “For instance, I had to lobby to get this job some two years ago when all my wares were seized at Oshodi by the men of the Kick Against Indiscipline (KAI) after they raided Agege Motor Road in Oshodi, where I displayed them,” she said.

According to her, the KAI Brigade men swooped on her and others, who displayed their markets along the road and impounded everything without giving them an option of paying a fine to retrieve them.

“Everything I had invested went down the drain without anyone to help me. I was also indebted to the microfinance house that gave me some petty loans to stock my market. It was a nerve-wracking experience with officials of this microfinance pestering my life. And with no one to help me, being a single mother of two kids, I had to take up this job to survive,” she said.

Her experience was dwarfed by another member of her gang, who said she once relocated outside Lagos to the neighbouring state of Ogun with the intention of finding succour there. Unfortunately, no one was willing to help, as everybody was facing one challenge or the other.

With her sick husband and three kids to cater for, Adeola, as she called herself, had to run back to Lagos, leaving her family in Ogun to take up the sweeping job to survive and send whatever she could gather home every fortnight for her family to survive as well.

“My husband was an artisan, a carpenter, before he had a stroke, making him invalid to retake responsibility. At about the same time, my shop around the Ijegun area was razed by an inferno, leaving me with nothing. Life became unbearable for all of us, with nobody to assist us. Even if they did, how long could that have sustained us?” Adeola asked in her Ijebu dialect.

With all of them having different tales to tell, sweeping the streets was not an option but a must to survive. However, considering the dangers, the job was not on their mind. To them, when they get to the bridge, they would cross it.

Unfortunately, the imaginary bridge was very difficult and delusional. It had around it so many intricate and agonising barriers that most of them lamented their decision to sweep the streets in the first place.

One of their regrets, and the most serious, is the risk of being killed by hit-and-run drivers who overrun them while at work on the highway.

Coupled with this is the attendant scorn or contempt they are treated with. Most people see them as living a miserable life for being street sweepers. The scorn hits more profoundly each time the refrain from a popular old-school Juju musician’s song about sweepers comes to mind: Iya nii je agbale oja, meaning: a street or market sweeper suffers.

According to Kafayat, she and her colleagues have suffered several indescribable scorns and plights owing to their work as sweepers. “Many of my people have been killed by all these careless and useless drivers, who most times run away, leaving their victims to their relatives and the public,” she said.

She continued: “Se bi you remember those two women killed at Charlie Boy Bus Stop along Gbagada-Oshodi expressway on November 13, 2023, when one useless driver hit them and ran away. We later heard that he was arrested, but have we heard anything again? she asked.

Kafayat and Adeola’s experiences paled compared to what a 43-year-old lady, Suliat, has gone through all in the name of working. She said she had no other option but to join the sweeper’s gang to earn a living.

She and others in her shoes refused to live a life of misery and scorn; hence, they opted to sweep. However, one common denominator among them all is that they would not want their names in print, as they would not want to bear whatever backlash could follow their granting an interview.

According to Suliat, an indigene of Kwara State residing in the Ijora Olopa area, being a sweeper to reduce the pang of misery and deprivation has unfortunately brought more scorn and rejection upon her, which has made her doubt if she had made the right choice in the first place.

“Is it the way people look at us we want to talk about or how insulting some Lagosians can be? As for me, the only succour I get whenever and wherever I work, is gathering some sharp sands which we sweep from the highway and put them in some used cement bags and sell to bricklayers and those who want to fill some gullies and craters” she said in her local dialect.

She recalled when she was at the Oshodi-Ilupeju axis of the Gbagada-Anthony-Oshodi expressway. “What I enjoyed about being in such areas was gathering fine sand, which I usually sell to those who need it, mainly artisans such as bricklayers and petty shop owners.

She recalled how two of her gang members were carelessly run over by a driver in 2023. According to her, the incident was one of the foreboding fears they always have each time they work on the highway, knowing they are usually on their own.

On November 13, 2023, a hit-and-run driver reportedly crushed two women, a 65-year-old Folashade Odufuwa and her colleague, a 60-year-old Ajoke Adefuye, to death, while they were sweeping the highway in the morning. Although, the suspect reportedly turned up at the police station.

The driver was alleged to have evaded arrest by officers of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) when he rammed into the two road sweepers

 However, most of the sweepers said they were unsure how the case had been treated so far and expressed the fear that the suspect might have been released from custody.

“Only God remains the defender of the defenceless as justice can only be served to the rich and the privileged in society,” a colleague of Kafayat, said, also refusing her identity.

According to her, she could run into trouble if she mentioned her name, and using a pseudonym would suffice. “We have been mistreated, scorned, and left to our fate, particularly when something untoward happened to us. When I lost my immediate elder sister, I had nobody to help me. No money, no assistance, or handout from any quarters. But God came to my aid,” she said, fighting her emotions.

Her tearful eyes revealed how bitter and hurt she had been, but since she had no alternative, she had to trudge on, sweeping until help came her way.

“Every day for me is a bonus. You only know when you leave your home, and it is by His grace that you return in the evening,” she said.

She continued: “Is it the scorn you want to talk about or the insults from some badly brought up Lagosians, who see us as the dreg of society? Some of them would insult us when they pass by, and the dust from what we sweep comes to them. And sometimes, when we beg for assistance, they look at you as a beggar. It is miserable.”

The suspect in the Gbagada accident, 45-year-old Jerry Ironkwe, a mechanic, has since been arraigned at the Yaba Magistrate’s Court for the death of the two women.

The charges against him read: “That you, Jerry Ironkwe, on November 13, 2023, around 7.30 am at Charly Boy Bus Stop, along the Gbagada Expressway, Lagos in the Yaba Magisterial District, being the driver in charge of one Honda Accord Saloon Car with Reg. No. EPE 984 DV, dangerously drove the same to the public, without due care and attention, or reasonable consideration for other persons using the highway and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 18(1) of the Road Traffic Law, Laws of Lagos State of Nigeria, 2012.

“That you, Jerry Ironkwe, on the same date, time, and place in the aforesaid Magisterial District, dangerously drove the exact vehicle to the public and caused the death of one Folashade Odufuwa, aged 65 years old, went the exact vehicle to the public, and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 20 of the Road Traffic Law, Laws of Lagos State of Nigeria, 2012.

“That you, Jerry Ironkwe, on the same date, time, and place in the aforesaid Magisterial District, dangerously drove the same vehicle to the public and caused the death of one Ajoke Adefuye, aged 60 years old and thereby committed an offence, contrary to Section 20 of the Road Traffic Law, Laws of Lagos State of Nigeria, 2012.”

However, he pleaded not guilty to the charges. Following his plea, Magistrate Balogun granted him bail of N1m with two sureties in like sum.

She then told the police to duplicate the case file and send it to the Directorate of Public Prosecutions office for legal advice. She adjourned the case until December 13, 2023, for the DPP’s advice.

For more than a year, little has been heard about the case, which has led the sweepers, who are mostly women, to conclude that the suspect might have been released.

Incoherent data from LAWMA revealed that between 2007 and 2010, no fewer than 57 street sweepers got killed in car accidents while carrying out their duties across the state.

Also, in 2014, a pregnant lady sweeper, Kikelomo Bamidele, was crushed to death by a petrol tanker along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

Again, on November 3, 2018, another road sweeper was killed by a driver along Osborne Road, Ikoyi. The driver reportedly ran over her after losing control of the vehicle, killing her instantly.

Also, a lady, Bisi, lost her life in 2015 when a vehicle knocked her down on the Third Mainland Bridge.

These are some of the few tragedies that had befallen these hapless sweepers of Lagos, making some concerned residents make a case for them to have insurance coverage and an increase in their pay.

With the Lagos State government increasing the minimum wage to N85,000, proponents of the wage increase said the sweepers must not be left out, considering the hazards of their jobs. They said they deserve minimum wage.

Coupled with this is the biting food inflation that has made nonsense of their meagre salary. However, to cushion the harrowing effects of the fuel subsidy removal, the state government promised to give them an additional N10,000 for six months to their paltry pay.

For instance, in 2022, a street sweeper earned a paltry sum of N25,000 monthly. Although there was a promise to improve the wages in January 2023, they were a mere N5,000, making them get N30,000 monthly amid limited healthcare support.

Some human rights activists have described the situation as “modern-day slavery,” saying the N30,000 was an affront to their dignity “in a country where a bag of rice costs over N100,000.”

One of them, Toyin Taiwo-Ojo, in an interview, said, “These cleaners, who keep our streets and offices spotless, deserve far more than what they are being given,” adding that their pay, based on the outdated National Minimum Wage Act of 2019, was a violation of workers’ rights to a decent standard of living.

“We must do better for our workers,” the activist insisted, saying, “They deserve dignity, respect, and, above all, a living wage.”

According to her, the time to act is now before more dreams are crushed and more families are left struggling.

These sweepers’ tales have highlighted their daily ordeals. Tasked with the responsibility of keeping the state clean, they are abandoned to endure needless hardships and life-threatening risks.

According to Statista, Lagos State is the most populous state in Nigeria and sub-Saharan Africa. With a population of over 20 million, it generates more than 13,000 tons of waste daily.

The United Nations Environmental Programme and Clean-Up Nigeria once ranked it the second dirtiest city in Nigeria, trailing behind Abia State.

This led to the creation of the Lagos State Waste Management Authority, initially established as the Lagos State Refuse Disposal Board in 1977 when Nigeria was preparing to host the Festival of Arts and Culture (FESTAC).

LAWMA has employed over 16,489 street sweepers and supervisors who manage the city’s waste daily through a comprehensive collection, transportation, and disposal system.

*LAWMA’s reaction

However, efforts at reaching LAWMA’s corporate headquarters were not fruitful, but a recent chat with its Director of Public Affairs, Sade Kadiri, would suffice.

When recently interviewed by another medium in Lagos, Kadiri noted that the agency had implemented several programmes to address the plights of these sweepers. According to her, the agency was aware of their health, safety, and welfare concerns.

To her, given the demanding nature of the job, LAWMA has ensured quarterly medical check-ups for them in each of the state’s eight regions.

She said this regular assessment focuses on both preventive and diagnostic care, helping to identify health issues early on and allowing for timely treatment.

“By conducting this check-up consistently, we aim to monitor and maintain the general health of our sweepers. Each session includes vital signs, check screening for chronic diseases, occupational health assessments to detect any work-related conditions, personalised health advice and referrals for further treatment if needed,” she said.

She stressed that the measure aimed to reduce the risk of illnesses and injuries while providing a platform for the workers to discuss any health concerns with medical professionals.

“Regarding health coverage, LAWMA has partnered with the Lagos State Residents Registration Agency to register and document each sweeper,” she added.

According to her, this registration was critical for their formal enrolment in a health maintenance organisation (HMO).

Beyond medical insurance, she noted that the agency had introduced an insurance scheme to provide financial assistance in case of on-the-job incidents or accidents.

She said the safety net was designed to alleviate the financial impact of workplace injuries on the sweepers and their families and ensure that they received immediate aid when needed.

“Regarding ongoing safety training, weekly sessions are conducted on-site. These cover critical safety measures, including proper waste handling, lifting techniques, and the use of personal protective equipment such as gloves and masks.

“On the welfare of our sanitation workers, LAWMA is mindful of the current economic reality in the country and is working assiduously to ensure the well-being of those working to keep our environment clean,” she said.

Another official who spoke on the sweepers’ plights was the Deputy Director of the Public Affairs Unit in the Ministry of Environment, Mr Adekunle Adeshina, who said the street sweepers were not core public servants.

“They have the terms for which they were employed. They are employees of LAWMA. So, the agency will be in the best position to answer that. This is because the state government did not employ the sweepers.

“LAWMA employed them for the specific purpose of cleaning the streets. And people who work in the parastatals are different from the core public servants. So, LAWMA will be in the best position to answer you,” he said.

In the chat, however, Kadri was optimistic that the street sweepers would be paid the minimum wage as soon as Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu gave the directive.