Akoka residents decry poor waste disposal services

Residents around the Akoka axis of Lagos have lamented irregular waste disposal services rendered by the state government through its agencies, saying they were charged promptly, despite not being offered commensurate services.

“Repeatedly, we keep having this issue of waste piling up. This waste (in front of my house) has piled up for over three weeks now. They (waste disposal agents) have not even bothered to come close. We often have these bins overflowing,” said Caleb Adebayo, a resident.

Another resident, Oseni Suleman, added that the waste disposal agents come only when the residents make complaints to them, just as a business owner in the same axis, Tosin Stone, said the evacuation of waste fortnightly is too long for the residents to pile their waste.

Oladapo Adeosun said: “For quite some time now, they have stopped coming (to my house). They have stopped coming (frequently) to this mainland generally.”

He disclosed that residents had resorted to unregulated waste disposers to discard their refuse.

A house owner, Bayo Adeogun, added: “We pay every month to LAWMA (Lagos State Waste Management Agency). They have their offices around Lagos, where we go to pay.”

Adebayo, who is also the Founder of EarthPlus Africa, an environmental protection organisation, has charged government to create more awareness on benefits and methods of proper waste recycling methods, saying a majority of Nigerians are not aware of recycling, especially waste separation.

He told The Guardian: “One of the things government should be doing is sensitisation of the people.”

Meanwhile, stakeholders in the waste management industry have decried the under exploitation of waste recycling in the country.

Managing Director of Agoa Waste Management, a Lagos-based waste recycling company, Andrew Akinduro, said the waste recycling business is a lucrative one that works in developed countries.

“There is a system that works in developed countries, and that is: you bring your waste and they give you money. They have the technology to tell you the amount the waste you are bringing in would cost,” he said.

He urged government to sensitise Nigerians on waste recycling for the practice to thrive in the country, adding: “If we can imbibe that system, even to the extent that a primary school student would know that if he/she gathers waste in his/her house and there is a point he/she can take that thing to and get money from it, we would not find plastics in our environment or it would be reduced to the barest minimum.”