EVALUATING THE PERCEPTION OF PEOPLE IN HOUSEHOLD SOLID WASTE DISPOSAL IN ONITSHA NORTH LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF ANAMBRA STATE, NIGERIA

ABSTRACT
The study evaluates the perception of people in household solid waste disposal in Onitsha north local government area of Anambra state, Nigeria. The study has the following objectives: to examine the consequences of household solid waste disposal in Onitsha North and to identify the strategies that have been adopted in household solid waste disposal in Onitsha North. It also explained the mode of data collection and analysis; data for this study was collected from the respondents through the use of questionnaires. Questionnaires were shared to all 32 respondents of the organization, and field surveys through responses to questions in the questionnaire served as the main source of primary data for this study.The researcher discarded other alternatives such as the causal and explanatory research designs, because accurate findings and data analysis may not be achieved. Other information was collected from text books, journals and other secondary sources of data. Base on finding the study has the sample size of thirty-two (32). Findings from the study revealed that household solid wastes are not properly managed in Onitsha North, poor disposal of household solid waste leads to flooding, poor disposal of household solid waste does not make the environment unhealthy, strategies have been put in place for proper disposal of household solid waste in Onitsha North and disposal of household solid waste has not been effective in Nigeria.

BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
Solid wastes comprise all the wastes arisingfrom human and animal activities that arenormally solid, discarded as useless or unwanted.Also included are by- products of process linesor materials that may be required by law to bedisposed of (Okecha 2000). Solid waste can beclassified in a number of ways, on the basis ofsources, environmental risks, utility and physicalproperty. On the basis of source, solid wastesare again classified as: Municipal Solid Wastes,Industrial Solid Wastes and Agricultural SolidWastes.Nigeria’s major urban centers are todayfighting to clear mounting heaps of solid wastefrom their environments. These strategic centersof beauty, peace and security are being overtakenby the messy nature of over flowing dumpsunattended heaps of solid wastes emanatingfrom household or domestic or kitchen sources,markets, shopping and business centers. Cityofficials appear unable to combat unlawful andhaphazard dumping of hazardous commercialand industrial wastes which are a clear violationof the clean Air and Health Edicts in our environmentalsanitation laws, rules and regulation.

Refuse generation and its likely effects on thehealth, quality of environment and the urbanlandscape have become burning national issuesin Nigeria today. All stakeholders concern withthe safety and the beautification of our environmenthave come to realize the negative consequencesof unclear solid human wastesfound in residential neighborhoods, markets,schools, and central business districts in ourcities. These solid wastes have become recurringfeatures in our urban environment. It is nolonger in doubt that Nigerian cities are inundated withthe challenges of unclear solid wastes. As aresult, urban residents are often confronted withthe hazardous impact to their collective healthand safety.

A United Nations Report (August 2004)noted with regret that while developing countriesare improving access to clean drinking waterthey are falling behind on sanitation goals.At one of its summit in 2000 (Uwaegbelun 2004)revealed that The World Health Organization-(WHO 2004) and United Nations InternationalChildren Education Fund- (UNICEF 2004) jointreport in August 2004 that: “about 2.4 billionpeople will likely face the risk of needlessdisease and death by the target of 2016 becauseof bad sanitation”. The report also noted thatbad sanitation – decaying or non-existentsewage system and toilets- fuels the spread ofdiseases like cholera and basic illness likediarrhea, which kills a child every 21 seconds.

The hardest hit by bad sanitation is rural poorand residents of slum areas in fast-growingcities, mostly in Africa and Asia.In 1992, the “Earth Summit” succeeded inalerting the conscienceof the world to the urgencyof achieving environmentally sustainabledevelopment. The Summit asserted that ifwe know enough to act today, then we must alsofind answers to many tough conceptual and technicalquestions that have remained unsolvedover time. It affirms that rapid urbanization indeveloping world if ignored can be a threat tohealth, the environment and urban productivity.

Cities are the engines of economic growth, butthe environmental implications of such growthneed to be assessed and managed better. Thecritical and most immediate problems facing developingcountries and their cities are the healthimpact of urban pollution that are derived frominadequate water services, poor urban and industrialwaste management, as well as air pollution,especially from particulates which constitutes part of solid waste.
Among the pressing environmental and publichealth issues in Nigeria today is the problemof solid waste generation and disposal. Theproblem of solid waste management is a historical onebecause man’s existence is inextricably linkedto the generation of waste. The problem is becoming intractable as many cities in developingcountries cannot keep pace with urbanization,pollution, and the increasingly concomitant generationof garbage due to changing life stylesand consumption patterns.

The mountainous heaps of solid wastes thatdeface Nigerian cities and the continuous dischargeof industrial contaminants into streamsand rivers without treatment motivated the federalgovernment of Nigeria to promulgate Decree58 for the establishment of Federal EnvironmentalProtection Agency (FEPA) on 30 December1988 (Federal Military Government 1988).

A national policy on the environment was formedand the goals of the policy include: to secure forall Nigerians a quality of environment adequate for their health and wellbeing; to raise publicawareness and promote understanding of the essentiallinkages between the environment anddevelopment; and to encourage individual andcommunity participation in environmental protectionand improvement efforts (FEPA 1989). Asregards the solid waste sector, the specific actionsdesired include collection and disposal ofsolid waste in an environmentally safe manner;setting up and enforcement of laws, regulations,and standards; encouragement of public participation;environment monitoring and impositionof penalties on defaulters to encourage compliance(FEPA 1989; FRN 1991).
In spite of the formulation of FEPA and a national environmental policy, the environment has not been adequately protected. Interest ismainly on aesthetics, which is rarely achieved(Agunwanba 1998). Wastes collection is irregularand restricted to the major cities. Improperlysited open dumps deface several cities,thereby endangering public health by encouragingthe spread of odors and diseases, uncontrolledrecycling of contaminated goods and pollutionof water sources (Adegoke 1989, Singh1998).

Sadly, there seems a resignation to the unremittingsolid wastes build up by the relevant authorities,where such bodies exist at all. However,in reactions to the inescapable environmentalimpact of delay in solid wastes removal,the federal government for example, introducedthe monthly environmental sanitation in the earlyseventies. There from the States and Local Governmentswere expected to take a cue and evolvetheir own solid wastes management (SWM) strategiesbased on the peculiarities of their environment.
Each state had in the process of mitigatingurban solid wastes, set up Wastes ManagementBoards (WMB) in attempts to tackle the occurrenceof wastes and their hazards to society asa whole. While the unhealthy aspects of abandonedsolid wastes can be contained, the moreavoidable features of blocked drains, traffic impedanceand floods have yet to be fully tackled.

One resonant feature common in the wastesbuild-up and emanating environmental degradationscenarios is the high cost or capital intensivenature of its amelioration as well as tacklingthe solid wastes menace. It requires a lot of financialand human capital to minimize and attemptto eradicate the adverse effects of exposedand untreated solid wastes in our urban centers.

It is expected that government would in duecourse arrive at the means to combat solid wastesand reduce their negative impact on arearesidents and the perception of our cities asbeing dirty, chaotic, and full of traces of rottingor fermenting garbage that emit odors harmfulto the human body. Obviously, the timely removalof accumulated solid wastes require much morethan our governments at all levels are presentlyengaged in. Further plans, policies and programswould need to be put on a more permanent basisin order to combat the dastardly effects of environmental degradation. Understandably, itwould require effective mobilization of resourcessuch as involving all stakeholders in regularcounter measure to suppress uncontrolled solidwastes generation and irregular disposal outsidecity confines altogether.