**7. Discussion**

Management of solid waste is a problem for most cities in Africa. This chapter has discussed four key causes of solid waste management problem in Nigeria, they are: behavioral, poor technology, poverty and poor town planning amongst others. The lack of knowledge in the management of waste by individuals magnify at municipal level leading to larger waste management problems. The best strategy to tackle this problem is a change of attitude of individuals, through deliberate decision to do things right. In addition, government can assist by embarking on intensive enlightenment campaign and provision of sophisticated waste evacuation equipment. Furthermore, stiff penalties should be put in place for defaulters as a means of deterrence (**Figure 5**). This is because poor technology and lack of technical skill are problems of third world countries. This makes it cumbersome to manage waste effectively in a highly populated country such as Nigeria. Nigeria does not lack manpower, but lacks the technology to adequately manage solid waste. Presently attempts are being made by private individuals to establish waste management and recycling facilities in several parts of the country. Similarly few state governments are making attempts at establishing waste treatment facilities in their states. It takes the will power and availability of funds to accomplish this aim.

Poverty is a problem that affects almost every aspect of life in the country, even when there is the will to pursue good waste management methods, the funds to acquire equipment to carry out the process is lacking. The establishment of a waste treatment facility is a gigantic project that requires government assistance and input to be successful. This is because of other aspects of the project that require huge financial commitment, e.g., purchase of land, good road network,

#### **Figure 5.**

*Enlightenment campaign against waste disposal in rivers and a mangrove forest at Eagle Island, Niger Delta, Nigeria.* 

 proper city planning and employment of skilled waste managers, which go beyond what an individual can do. However, the government is well positioned to execute such gigantic projects. For government to acquire land and to use the state's resources to establish waste facility will not be a problem as compared to what an individual will do. For example, because of the land use system, land acquisition by a private person is more cumbersome and costly than when done by the state government.

Planning also plays a key role in proper waste management. Most communities in Africa are built from communal land allocation without proper design such as surveying and land allocation to ensure the sitting of important municipal facilities at specific location. This makes the distribution of properties and facilities to be haphazard. For instance there are some places that are difficult to locate because there are no street names or street numbers. This affects the sitting of waste facility because central areas that are supposed to be preserved for public use have been taken over and houses built by private individuals. Lack of town planning thus affects the sitting of projects that will be beneficial to the people. Furthermore, solid waste treatment facilities are usually sited in locations that are inaccessible by waste agents who burn a lot of fuel and add mileages to convey waste to disposal facility. The solution to this problem is the reorganization of the town to reflect proper town planning for old municipality and the establishment of a well-planned city for new towns that are springing up from the suburbs. This involves the establishment of direct road link to waste facilities that are far away from human habitation.
