Actor Kunle Remi has joined the growing list of voices calling out Nigerians, particularly Lagos residents, over a problem that resurfaces every rainy season but never seems to get fixed: indiscriminate waste disposal and its role in the city’s worsening flood crisis.
In a candid video shared on his Instagram story, the Nollywood star didn’t bother softening his words. “Let us call a spade a spade, we are a dirty people. Nigerians are dirty people and that’s why there is flooding everywhere,” he said, visibly frustrated as he watched reports of submerged neighbourhoods pour in.
His outburst came at a moment when Lagos was once again buckling under torrential rainfall. The actor noted that the flooding had spread far beyond the usual trouble spots on the Island, pointing out that areas like Gbagada and Ilupeju were now underwater too.
He mentioned being unable to reach a friend trapped in Agungi, unsure whether the man was even managing to eat properly, a small but telling detail that captured just how disruptive the flooding had become for ordinary people simply trying to go about their lives.
For longtime residents, none of this is new. Lagos has wrestled with waste and water for decades, dating back to the 1970s when a visiting federal official infamously branded it the dirtiest capital in the world, a comment that eventually pushed authorities to set up what later became the Lagos State Waste Management Authority.
Yet despite that history and the billions poured into sanitation efforts since, the city still generates an overwhelming volume of waste each day, and a significant chunk of it never reaches a proper dumpsite. Much of it ends up in canals, lagoons, and street drains instead, exactly the kind of buildup Remi was railing against.
That’s where his real argument lands. According to him, the constant dumping of plastic bottles, cans, food packs, and other rubbish into gutters is choking the very channels that are supposed to carry rainwater away.
“Let’s stop throwing trash into drainages. Let’s stop blocking the drainages. We are just animals. Be vigilant, open your eyes,” he urged, calling on residents to hold each other accountable rather than looking away when they witness someone littering. He extended the appeal to motorists too, pushing back against the common habit of tossing trash out of car windows while driving.
Remi was careful to frame this as a shared responsibility rather than letting government off the hook entirely. Still, his core message was that no amount of infrastructure spending can outrun a habit problem. “If all of us are conscious about it, speak about it, and do the right thing by not throwing things out, it would be better. This flood thing is just dirtiness,” he added.
It’s a take that lines up with what several environmental officials and experts have said for years. Lagos State’s waste management authorities have repeatedly pointed to clogged drainage systems as one of the biggest drivers of flash flooding, especially in coastal, densely built areas where water already struggles to drain.
Public health experts have also flagged the knock-on effects, noting that stagnant, refuse-choked water tends to breed mosquitoes and waterborne diseases, turning a sanitation issue into a health crisis almost overnight.
Naturally, Remi’s comments didn’t go unchallenged online. While plenty of people agreed with him, plenty more pushed back, arguing that blaming “dirty” citizens lets the government dodge accountability for poor urban planning, inadequate drainage infrastructure, and inconsistent waste collection services that often leave residents with nowhere proper to take their trash even when they want to.
It’s a fair counterpoint, and one that’s been raised repeatedly whenever Lagos floods make headlines: residents can stop littering tomorrow, but if drainage systems remain poorly maintained and waste trucks keep skipping neighbourhoods, the floodwater will likely keep rising regardless.
Even so, Remi’s larger point still holds weight. Flooding in a city like Lagos is rarely caused by a single failure; it’s usually the result of overlapping problems, weak infrastructure, climate pressures, and human habits all colliding at once.
By calling out the public’s role in that equation, the actor isn’t necessarily dismissing the need for better governance; he’s simply asking Nigerians not to wait for perfect infrastructure before they start making better choices.
Whether or not his blunt delivery sits well with everyone, it’s hard to argue with the basic physics behind his frustration: a blocked drain doesn’t care who blocked it, the water still has nowhere to go.
