| Waste management policy to the extent that it qualifies, as management in most Nigerian cities has been disposal oriented. Even when waste is collected from the urban communities, this waste is only to be discarded into open dumps at the edge or in some cases along major highways of cities. The basic tenet of this thesis is that this waste should be viewed as a potential resource. Material objects often discarded as wastes are simply misplaced or, misused materials in transition that are yet to find useful application. People need to learn to treat wasted materials not as waste, but as resource to be reused and recycled. In addition, I have also argued that communities can play a role in the management of wastes/resources. Since waste is the by-product of human activities, community participation is then crucial to ensure the sustainability of the Nigerian urban environments and the protection of the public well-being. The current environmental sanitation policy needs to include strategies aimed at educating people on the usefulness of material recovery not just keeping wastes out of dump sites, but making reuse possible. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)... |
