The walk from Owodunni Street to Oladele bus stop in Ikosi, Lagos, is not for the faint-hearted. On one end of the road is an overflowing gutter, filled with brackish stagnant water. A woman roasting corn, who displayed her wares, donned a nose mask as she unpacked her bags of maize, native pears, and coconuts, humming a popular tune.
Right beside her was a heap of rubbish from the previous day’s work. She looked at it with her side eyes as if not sure how it got there and dragged her bag of corn to the other side so that she could back the mountain of dirt starring back at her.
After a few minutes, she picked up a short bunch of brooms, and swept the front of the church before her, gathering dust, and hair extensions from the girl who owns a salon down the other end of the street and dragging everything to join the already-formed mountain. She topped it all with saliva and a short hiss, and went to place her corn finely on fire with unwashed hands.
Our correspondent, who sat right beside her at a provision store, could not help but perceive the deadly stench emanating from the street.
This reporter had, in a public bus, eavesdropped on a conversation between two friends on how the street had been turned into a waste dump, where even people as far as Alapere come to dump their waste.
The next day, the roasted corn seller came with plantain. As she alighted from the commercial motorcycle that Wednesday morning, a lad rushed from outside a building that housed a tailor and fabric seller to help her put her wares down. The dirt from the previous day still lay there unattended to. Hands akimbo for a few minutes, she muttered a few words, which seemed like a prayer, and work started for her.
That evening, on a return visit, our correspondent noticed that the heap had grown again. This time, fresh plantain peels covered the dried corn leaves and pear seeds.
A fruit seller, who sold his wares in a wheelbarrow, stationed his kiosk by the junction and joined in the waste jamboree. He was worse. Watermelon waste competed with orange peels for space right beside the heap the lady who roasted corn made. By morning, a source, who our correspondent had asked to confirm that the heap was still there, identified as Mr Doshima, said the waste was still uncollected and had begun to smell bad.
Before our correspondent left that day, it was observed that commuters threw waste from moving vehicles as they passed the street onto the heap by a fence shared by a Pentecostal church and a mosque.
The narrow street, which is barely enough for two cars to pass at the same time, has now become a home for all forms of waste. Used baby diapers, condoms, leftover food, fish bone, chicken feathers and rotten eggs are a regular sight. The stench is offensive to the nostrils.
The walk through that road can be likened to passing through the valley of death. If the odour of rotten eggs does not hit you, the stench of a three-day-old used baby diaper will.
A barber, Femi Oke, whose shop is stationed opposite the waste dump, said he had lost customers, adding that people do not love to patronise him because of the location of his shop.
Oke said, “I am tired of talking to people to stop dumping waste there. It is frustrating. One time, the local government council executives imposed a fine of some sort, but there were still infractions.
“Sometimes, when I lock my shop up in the evening, the area would be clean but by morning, it would be overflowing with dirt. The waste would most times cover most of the road so that cars would use just one lane in order not to drive on it. It is a terrible situation.”
A friend of the barber, who gave his name simply as Femi, told our correspondent that the people in the area were already used to the stench and carried on with their lives like it was nothing.
“There is nothing we can do. It is people like us who dump the waste there, not minding that it will affect the people who sell and live in the area. We are tired of breathing bad air. The government should come to our aid before we begin to come down with diseases,” he added.
Feasts of rodents, reptiles
On the night of December 25, 2023, our correspondent paid another visit to the area and discovered that rodents, lizards and cockroaches were having a field day. Flying from the shared fence down to the mound of waste, the roaches flew eastwards and perched on the smelly waste mountain. From afar, one could see debris of rice and stew, spaghetti and some paper-packed meat, which the rats had torn open, letting out its contents on the road.
A man, who refused to give his name but said he was one of the pastors of the church whose fence had been defaced, told Saturday PUNCH that he had written several letters to the local government health officials, all to no avail.
The man stated, “I am tired of writing letters. When we write, they (LG officials) would come, do some cosmetic enforcement and go back. I don’t know when this place became a waste dump. I cannot take this anymore. We have even sent a letter to Alausa (state government secretariat), but we have not got a response.
“The stench is affecting our members. You can be in church and the smell can just come so heavily that you will be put off. How can anybody even be that wicked to dump waste just beside two religious houses without the fear of God’s wrath?
“One day, we came out and saw that someone had even defecated on the road, adding to the mess. We had no choice, but to clear the waste ourselves, but we cannot keep doing that when we have a government that should handle these things. We are tired. We want to live like human beings and not animals. We want to breathe again.”
‘Barrow boys’ to the rescue
Always dressed in grumpy outfits and armed with a loud voice with which they tell residents of their arrivals, the ‘barrow boys’ go around with their carts and collect waste from several homes for a fee. Where they dispose of this waste is another disaster altogether.
For example, on Ogunlana Street, a mother of three, Mrs Martha Ndubuisi, told Saturday PUNCH that because the Lagos State Waste Management Authority’s collectors were not coming as promptly as they should, the ‘barrow boys’ had now become the most reliable waste collection agents in the area.
Our correspondent gathered from several other sources that the boys usually came around with their carts early in the morning and would shout around the neighbourhood for anyone who needed their services to call them.
Ndubusi said, “These ‘barrow boys’ are the ones saving us in this area. For my restaurant, which generates a lot of waste, they are the surest way to get the solid waste out of my space.
“They don’t charge much. For as low as N100, one can have their waste collected by these workmen and save themselves the stress of having to pay N1,500 monthly to LAWMA, whose collectors do not show up for weeks, leaving you stranded.”
For an electrical engineer, Mr Efe Moses, who lives in the area, the ‘barrow boys’ are the only ones who collect his waste daily from the waste bin right outside his gate.
He stated, “I even have a specific ‘barrow boy’, who I pay upfront. Whether I am around or not, he comes to my house, knocks and collects the waste and moves on.
“Before now, we had to wait for several weeks and live with the stench of the waste before LAWMA showed up.”
On Oyiborode Street in Ikosi, Kosofe Local Government Area of the state, residents have taken their destinies into their own hands.
Big waste bins were seen in front of each house for waste collection till the LAWMA officials showed up.
Although an elderly man, who gave his name only as Chief, said the arrangement was not sustainable and there was nothing the street could do, seeing that the LAWMA officials still come around, sometimes to demand payment even when they did not show up regularly to pick up the waste.
Where do ‘barrow boys’ dispose of collected waste?
Our correspondent traced two ‘barrow boys’, Abdullahi and Husseini, who collect waste in the Ikosi area, and the discovery was mind-boggling.
After collecting the waste from households in the area, they go to a dump in the area, Boola, and pay some louts for ‘tickets’ and then dump the waste.
When our correspondent confronted Abdullahi, he said that was the ‘proper’ place to dump collected waste, stressing that it had been the way he and others were plying their trade for years.
“They give us tickets and we are allowed to dump the waste there and go for more collection,” he said.
Asked how much he pays for tickets, he said, “It used to be N200 before. But now, we pay N500 twice a day. That is why we have also increased the money for the waste collection from N50 to N150 per bag.”
Attempts to get Husseini to comment were futile as he declined to speak to our correspondent and almost became violent.
Our correspondent went further to substantiate Abdullahi’s claims of extortion by asking some men, who held some tickets, but they declined to speak, asking this reporter to come with his lawyers if he wanted them to talk to him about anything.
“Come with your lawyers. Na our work be this. We get power from government to do am. Nothing wey you fit do us. If you no commot here now…” they said with naked confidence.
An elderly man, who lives in the area and for fear of attack refused to give his name, said the boys usually pose as local government officials, collect money from the ‘barrow boys’ and let them dump their waste in the area.
He said, “You know this place was originally a waste dump. We just began to live here when it seemed like we could manage. This is what they (louts) do here. They print tickets and sell them for as much as N1,000 for these ‘barrow boys’ and allow them to add more waste to the already existing refuse in the area. It is an eyesore.”
Our correspondent, who visited this slum in 2021, reported that the place was the centre of an epidemic waiting to happen.
A short walk into the community showed the pitiable state in which the residents live amidst the stench from mounting waste being dumped every day in the small community.
In Lekki, illegality reigns
In highbrow Lekki Phases 1 and 2, down to Lakowe and Ajah areas, cart pushers have become the ‘authorised’ waste collectors.
They move every morning and evening from house to house, compound to compound and street to street, asking for people who have waste to dispose of.
The only problem is that the residents are unaware of where the collected waste is dumped by the ‘barrow boys’.
A few weeks ago, LAWMA seized over 300 wheelbarrows and makeshift carts from pushers, who dump waste at unauthorised sites.
Photos from the seizure were shared on LAWMA’s X handle and captioned, ‘Indiscriminate dumping: LAWMA Monitoring and Enforcement Team confiscated over 300 carts from pushers, who serially dump waste at unauthorised locations along the Lekki Epe Expressway in clear violation of the environmental laws of the state’.
Dump and move
At the Mile 12 area of the state, residents have turned under the bridge and major junctions to waste dumps.
Our correspondent, who visited the area on Boxing Day, saw several residents, especially from the Mile 12 International Market, dumping their solid waste right on the street in the open glare of all, including traffic officials and policemen.
“It has become a normal sight for us here. Although I engage professionals to pick up my waste from my home, most people don’t have that time. They just dump it on the street and the government agency responsible will come pick it up whenever they like or when the stench has become unbearable,” Mr Solomon Ogadi, a civil engineer who visited the market to get some tubers of yam told our correspondent.
A seller, who sold perishables and refused to give her name, said she kept her waste by the roadside so that the people collecting it would see it.
“Where you want make I keep am before? For my head abi inside my house? Na there everybody dey drop their own na? I don dey this Mile 12 for more than 10 years. Na there we dey drop am,” she quipped in pidgin English, stressing that she was “helping” the government do its job.
The short visit to the market was a torturous one. Everywhere smelt like bad fart mixed with rotten meat. The sight alone was an eyesore but the pong was even more disgusting, but business moved as usual till our correspondent left the area around 4pm.
In Egbeda, the residents do not care. Right at the roundabout where buses pick passengers to Iyana Oba, First Gate and Old Garage, residents dumped their waste just as they moved.
A short ride on a bus from the Egeda bus stop to Old Garage was an eyesore. Waste was sighted on almost every street corner. At the First Gate bus stop, the situation was terrible. Right beside the high heap of rubbish, people set up their tables of fruits, ponmo, vegetables, and even cooked food. It was almost like the heap was invisible or the smell non-existent.
When our correspondent engaged a fruit seller at the market, she said, “We dey clear am once. But, no be our work. No be everything wey we poor people go dey do for government. Make dem self do their own.
“This place wey I dey now, I dey buy ticket from local government boys. Some days, I dey pay almost N800 just to sell my watermelon and orange. Wetin dem dey use the money do?”
Waste management problem
Solid waste comprises all the waste arising from human and animal activities and by-products of processes, which are normally solid and are discarded as useless or unwanted materials that may be required by law to be disposed of.
Researchers classify it in several ways based on their sources, environmental risks, utility and physical property.
Based on origin or source, solid wastes are classified as municipal solid waste, industrial solid waste and agricultural solid waste.
Lagos, like many other Nigerian cities, has a waste management problem. Although there is no formal estimate by the Nigerian National Municipal Waste Management Policy (2020), the country is said to produce a large volume of solid waste out of which less than 20 per cent is collected through a formal system.
This is abysmally lower than the World Bank’s estimate, which pegs the average waste collection for sub-Sahara African countries at 44 per cent. This is in contrast with the European and North American collection rate, which is now more than 90 per cent.
An environmental activist and safety expert, Mr Miracle Morgan, noted that the problem with the waste collection channel in the country was not just about the amount of waste collected, but the data on the amount of waste generated.
“Nigeria has not been able to address its waste management problem because there is not enough data on how much waste we generate as a country. Solid waste generated from Lagos State was pegged at 10,000 tonnes per day in 2005. Now, with over 20 million people in Lagos, the available data point to around 13,000 tonnes. How true can this be?” he queried.
Morgan added that the state government itself in 2018 admitted that the actual waste generated per day far outweighed the official figure of 13,000 tonnes.
“Managing this waste, from collection and transportation to disposal, is a major challenge for Lagos, which accounts for a large proportion of Nigeria’s waste. The population of Lagos State, urbanisation, consumption patterns, and the scale of economic activity work together to increase waste generation,” he added.
According to him, the NNMWMP (2020) has the potential to transform waste management in Lagos and around the country.
The policy, he said, proposed a system to separate, recycle and treat waste, conserve natural resources and create opportunities to earn a living from waste.
LAWMA
The Lagos State Waste Management Authority was set up in 1991 to collect, transport and dispose of municipal and industrial waste.
In recent times, the authority has deployed street sweepers and improved open dumps. It introduced 102 waste collection trucks and the Adopt-A-Bin programme, under which households and businesses could buy their waste bins. It started the Lagos Recycle initiative using a smart waste collection and reporting software application and has invested in equipment to manage dumps.
It also launched the Blue Box Initiative, which aims at promoting the culture of sorting waste at the point of generation. This initiative has not achieved much as residents now dump their waste unsorted by the roadside and street corners, defacing the environment and inviting diseases.
Ongoing initiatives to raise social awareness about environmental issues include the summer school for students and sanitation advocacy.
Nonetheless, Lagos continues to produce a large quantity of waste without adequate mechanisms for managing it.
Public health experts have noted that improper solid waste management often attracts insect and rodent vectors, which facilitate the spread of diseases such as cholera and dengue fever, or break-bone fever (a viral infection that spreads from mosquitoes to people), among others.
Weaknesses in waste management
The majority of Lagos residents are not aware of the environmental importance of waste separation and sorting. Experts have said this should be the first step in a sustainable management system.
A construction worker, Mr Emmanuel Eze, said he usually packs all his waste into a waste bin, adding that sorting waste could be messy.
“How can I separate plastic from used diapers and menstrual pads? I don’t have that time. I just dump my waste in a bin and move on. The waste collectors should do the job,” he added.
Morgan noted that some factors contributing to poor waste management in Lagos State included irregular and sporadic collection, residents’ unwillingness to pay for waste collection, the collapse of the materials recovery and recycling facility (Olusosun buy-back facility), and open burning at waste dumps, which endangers lives.
He added that other factors were dangerous conditions for street sweepers on roads and highways, inadequate funding, poor technology, weak policy framework, inadequate social development and inconsistencies in enforcement and monitoring, among others.
Improving waste management
The International Association for Impact Assessment notes that LAWMA needs to identify the most appropriate waste streams (multiple, single, or dirty recycling) according to the income level of residents.
In an article on its Environment and Solid Waste Management, Issue 12, the association noted, “The multiple recycling streams mean that several bins are provided for the collection of different recyclable materials. A single recycling stream involves collecting all recyclable materials in a single bin. Dirty recycling stream puts all waste in a single bin without sorting and separating.
“The multiple stream is most suited to high-income areas and the dirty stream is more practical for low-income areas.
“The dirty recycling system is similar to the practices of cart pushers, who collect unsorted waste from households in wheelbarrows. The difference is that residents can dispose of their waste in a bin of their choice for a fixed fee (pay-as-you-throw) in waste collection vehicles assigned to their area.
“The Lagos State Waste Management Authority, policymakers, waste collectors, community representatives, residents and other relevant stakeholders decide which waste belongs in the 3-in-1 and 2-in-1 bins and sets the bin prices for the pay-as-you-throw system after proper consultation.”
It also stated that street sweepers and waste pickers should become city employees, stating, “Sweepers should be replaced by sweeping trucks. Dumps should be upgraded to landfills. Appropriate technologies and digital solutions should be adopted. People should be made aware of waste separation and sorting through the school curriculum, social media, television, radio and billboards.
“Equally important are prudent financial management, bin incentives and government financial aid for private individuals who want to get into waste management. The system also needs consistent enforcement and monitoring. Above all, this is a template that can be replicated in other parts of the Nigerian state.”
A recent United Nations report noted that while developing countries were improving access to clean drinking water, sanitation was still a problem. The World Health Organisation and United Nations International Children’s Education Fund noted in a joint report that over 2.4 billion people could be at risk of potentially fatal diseases if the waste problem continued to be ignored.
Another environmentalist based in the United Kingdom, Mike Chimezie, stated that one of the results of a lack of adequate waste management facilities and poor waste consciousness was people leaving and dumping waste in drainages, gutters, and even the seemingly harmless littering.
“These materials then build up and block the water and waste passage in residential areas and the residents suffer the implications,” he said.
Quality of life affected
A professor at the Department of Geography, University of Calabar, Calabar, Cross River State, O.R.A. Sule, noted that proper management of solid wastes was a key to environmental sanitation.
He added that, in recent times, the quality of life in most of the cities of the developing world had been diminished by uncontrolled and poorly managed solid waste in the urban environment.
Sule said, “Urban Lagos is a typical example. It must be acknowledged that although wastes from homes, businesses, and institutions make up a small part of the total load of solid wastes generated in any urban environment, they are certainly the most offensive and most dangerous to health when they accumulate near residential points.
“The quality of life in urban Lagos, Nigeria, concerning indiscriminate dumping of uncollected solid wastes, approximates an aesthetic disaster.”
Health concerns
A lecturer at the Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Biological Science, UNICAL, Dr Donald Omang, noted that rural communities and urban towns were today struggling to clear heaps of solid waste from their environments.
According to him, these strategic centres are now being overtaken by overflowing dumps and uncollected heaps of solid waste emanating from household or domestic sources, markets, shopping, and business centres.
Omang stated, “The local government councils are unable to carry out their statutory responsibilities of managing municipal solid wastes in the towns and cities, which is a clear violation of the environmental sanitation edicts and regulations.
“These solid wastes have become threats to the health of the dwellers and it is no longer in doubt that Nigerian cities are overwhelmed with the challenges of solid waste.
“Improper solid waste disposal causes pollution of air, soil, and water, while indiscriminate dumping of waste contaminates surface and groundwater supplies.
“In urban areas, solid waste clogs drains, creating stagnant water for insect breeding and floods during the rainy season.
“Uncontrolled burning of solid wastes and improper incineration contribute significantly to urban air pollution. Greenhouse gases are generated from the decomposition of organic wastes in landfills, and untreated leachate pollutes surrounding soil and water bodies.”
He also stressed that health and safety issues also arise from improper solid waste management, adding, “Insect and rodent vectors are attracted to the waste and can spread diseases such as cholera and dengue fever.
“Using water polluted by municipal solid wastes for bathing, food, irrigation, and drinking can also expose individuals to disease organisms and other contaminants.
“The US Public Health Service identified 22 human diseases that are linked to improper solid waste management. Waste workers and pickers in developing countries are seldom protected from direct contact and injury.
“Exhaust fumes from waste collection vehicles, dust stemming from disposal practices and the open burning of waste also contribute to overall health problems.”
LAWMA’s efforts
In July, LAWMA announced its intention to commence a seal exercise on homes without waste bins on Lagos Island and the Mainland.
The Executive Director, Finance of LAWMA, Mr Kunle Adebiyi, in a recent statement by the Head, Public Affairs, Mrs Folashade Kadiri, said this followed an earlier issuance of abatement notices to the affected areas two months ago.
Adebiyi urged property owners and residents to procure adequate waste bins for their homes, adding that sufficient notice had been given to residents to procure the standard waste bins.
He stated, “Residents must cultivate proper environmental habits and support the efforts of the Authority to establish a cleaner and more liveable environment.
“By taking action against violations and ensuring compliance, we can create a sustainable environment, and help build the city of our dreams.
“LAWMA’s enforcement team will target areas on Lagos Mainland and Island, where violations have been observed. The team will carry out a thorough inspection to identify individuals, households, or businesses that have consistently neglected waste management guidelines. Those found in violation will receive an intention to seal notice, outlining the specific actions required to rectify the situation and avoid further penalties.
“The exercise will be in phases; this is phase one and we will visit other areas in the state to ensure full compliance.”
The executive director also urged residents to take responsibility for maintaining a clean and healthy environment for all, noting that by adhering to waste management regulations, residents could contribute to the overall cleanliness and sustainability of the environment.
“Adhering to the government’s directive for tenements to procure standard covered bins will ensure that our wastes are properly containerised. This will help save the environment from indiscriminate waste disposal and other hazardous consequences, such as flooding and outbreak of diseases,” Adebiyi noted.
He added that LAWMA had been actively working towards improving waste management in Lagos by implementing various initiatives such as waste sorting campaigns, recycling programmes, and public awareness campaigns to instil a culture of responsible waste disposal and to minimise the adverse impact of waste on the environment.
Adebiyi also appealed to residents to join hands with the administration of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to establish a cleaner and healthier environment by shunning indiscriminate waste disposal and taking advantage of the waste management services provided by the private sector waste collectors.
Efforts to get the Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, and the Special Adviser to the Governor on Environment, Olakunle Rotimi-Akodu, were futile as their telephones rang out.
However, in a recent meeting with the Association of Waste Managers of Nigeria in Lagos, Wahab and Rotimi-Akodu noted that their mode of operations must be digitised to make them more transparent and profitable.
