The Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA) on Monday announced it had sealed off no fever than thirty buildings (including churches and mosques) for contravening its laws against noise pollution.
The development was greeted with mixed reactions. Even though many of those who spoke with Saturday Tribune during the week lauded the initiative, some residents who were observed at public places discussing the matter openly had other things to say about it:
“What is noise pollution – in a city like Lagos?” queried a young man at a newspaper stand.
“There is freedom of worship,” another person observed.
“So if there is freedom of worship, should you force others who are not interested in your religion to listen to your message?”
“Of all the problems we are facing in Lagos today, is it noise that the government wants to tackle first?”
Lagos-based lawyer Samuel Chizoba Uzoewulu, however, told Saturday Tribune that “freedom of worship” did not imply freedom to “constitute public nuisance”.
“Lagos State, like other states, has its own laws,” he said. “There is supposed to be a section (or a volume) that regulates environmental matters. So the question is: does the law empower the said agency to carry out the action? So it is not about freedom of worship or expression. And this freedom does not give anyone unlimited power; there are limitations. For example, you cannot be allowed to express yourself in such a manner as to constitute public nuisance. It would only have been a case if the people were not allowed to worship at all; it would have been null and void, unconstitutional, and unenforceable.”
Mr Wale Kazeem, a postgraduate student at the University of Lagos who resides at Mushin said noise pollution was a major problem in his neighbourhood.
“The situation is now so bad that I fear that in the nearest future, some of us will have to wear hearing devices in order to hear people,” Kazeem said. “I always complain about this situation in my area, but people branded me ‘unbeliever’. We have noise from machines and generators, noise from religious activities, noise from video sellers, noise from mobile advertisers. All these can be controlled if government is serious. A special task force should be set up, and it should be headed by a sincere and no-nonsense person. Warnings should be given to all religious leaders to remove their speakers and put them inside so that no noise can be heard from outside. Video sellers and owners of industries should likewise be warned. Defaulters should be prosecuted.”
Decibels
Indeed most of these concerns are in fact a part of LASEPA’s broader vision. While interacting with journalists in Lagos on Monday, the General Manager of LASEPA, Rasheed Shabi, stated the approved “noise levels”:
“In industrial areas, noise level is meant to be at 90 decibel,” he said. “In the day and at night it should be 80 decibel. In areas we call mixed (residents and industry), during the day, the noise pollution is expected to be at 65 decibel and at night 55 decibel. If we do this for another six months, the level of non-compliance in the state will reduce… When one is exposed to a noise level of about 150 percent decibel for six hours, such a person could have deafness.
“In the last four years, we have been receiving lots of complaints from the residents of Lagos State complaining over the increase in the level of noise pollution in the state especially from religious houses and club houses. So, we decided to enforce the law establishing the agency. And when we seal, we tell the owner of the outfit to correct certain things before such outfits could be reopened.”
However, some residents who spoke with Saturday Tribune on Wednesday, felt it would be difficult for the agency to enforce the noise levels.
“How can you determine the measurement?” Tunde Lawal, a student at Lagos State University asked. “How can an ordinary CD seller know whether the sound from his loudspeaker has reached 90 decibel?”
Work of God
As most of the locations affected by the exercise on Monday were churches and mosques, many who spoke to Saturday Tribune pondered over the religious implications.
The Reverend Simeon Folorunsho is the Pastor of Masters Life Assembly at Ikotun in Lagos. “I have travelled around the world, and I know that in the Western world, you would not be permitted to disturb the environment,” he said. “It is not good for you to disturb people that want to sleep. And that you are not allowed to use noisy loudspeakers or megaphones does not mean that your work as a preacher cannot go on. It is not good to disturb your neighbours because you are doing church service.”
Asked if there was a way one could tell for certain whether one’s voice or instrument had become too loud, Folorunsho responded:
“I think it is the horn speaker that makes that kind of noise. If you use normal speakers inside your church, it won’t disturb people like that. But when you use the horn speaker, it goes far.”
Pastor Samuel Andrew of the Fruitbearers Chapel International at Bariga also spoke about the horn speakers. However, he believed it was more a problem with the mosques, rather than the churches.
“The issue is there; there are obvious cases of abuse. But I think, in all fairness, that it is more a problem of the mosques. They put their speakers outside; and I am talking about horn speakers. I think there should be moderation. They should be made to remove their horn speakers and put them inside. Even when you go to a nightclub, you will find that the noise doesn’t come out unless the speaker is placed outside. So I think it is the horn speaker that the government should really ban.”
However, Uthman Jaji Muhammad, the proprietor of Markaz Uthmany Arabic /Islamic Centre at Anthony Village, reacted this way:
“The same thing applies to the Christians. They do not even have any prescribed time for their worship. You see them very early in the morning, singing and clapping, even when people are still sleeping.”
Muhammad also described the closure of the mosques as inappropriate, noting that such an action should have been preceded by a massive and comprehensive sensitisation exercise.
“It is quite against the etiquette of the religion. You cannot close a place of worship. Every Muslim is expected to be at the mosque at least five times every day. The best thing is for the government to let us know what really the noise level should be; they have to make sure that we understand that, before taking such a decision.”
Lost in the noise
Ikotun market at Egbe is known to be rowdier at night than in the day. The shops are closed, but the goods are brought closer to the road, many of them displayed on the bare ground. It is a meeting point for buses from Oshodi and Iyana-Ipaja. But even as late as 10 pm, both routes continue to bustle as passengers continue to move to and fro.
The noise at the market is phenomenal – the combined yelling and cursing and screaming by traders, conductors and drivers; the screeching sounds from vehicles; and motorcycles and the thundering blasts from loudspeakers mounted by CD sellers. It seems clear – the enormity of the task before LASEPA.
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