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If you describe Tokunbo Wahab as the future of the Centre of Excellence, Lagos State, you would not be far from the truth. He has consistently shaped and redefined the future of the city he loves with boldness, vision, and results. As a close ally of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Wahab made remarkable, transformative contributions to the education sector, driving reforms that elevated standards and expanded opportunities for thousands of students. Now serving as the Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, he continues to chart a progressive course for Lagos, developing forward-looking business strategies, strengthening environmental policies, and promoting the state as a global destination for investment, innovation, and sustainable urban growth.
Wahab sees opportunity where others see challenges. Lagos produces 13,000 tonnes of waste daily; a burden for many, a resource for him. Under his leadership, the city recruited 1,400 sanitation officers, launched the “Trash for Cash” initiative, and partnered with companies like Zoom Lion and Lafarge to convert waste into compost, recyclables, and energy. Informal cart pushers are being replaced with organised collection systems, creating jobs and fostering responsible waste management. The result is a growing circular economy that promises cleaner streets, fewer floods, and a shift in public habits; a vision Wahab is determined to realise.
At Harvard Kennedy School, he highlighted Lagos’s delicate balance between rapid urban growth and climate vulnerability, noting how reclaimed wetlands and lagoons have fueled development while worsening flooding. He outlined the city’s transition to a circular waste system, including energy recovery, composting, transfer stations, and regional partnerships with Ghana and neighbouring states to address shared coastal threats. His approach reflects rare regional insight, strategic thinking, and deep personal commitment, honed over a career spanning law, education, and environmental policy, with training from Harvard and Wharton.
Back home, Wahab enforces environmental impact assessments, prosecutes ecological offenders, and leads civic campaigns championing sustainability. Dynamic, articulate, and unafraid to challenge the status quo, he has become one of Lagos’s most prominent commissioners. A lawyer with over 25 years of experience and a partner at Wall and Ace Law Firm, Wahab blends legal expertise with visionary governance.
For Lagos, Tokunbo Wahab represents a new generation of leadership: strategic, courageous, and committed to building a brighter, cleaner, and more prosperous future. In a city constantly on the move, he turns bold ideas into lasting change.
