Waste management in Ilori metropolis: lessons for Nigerian cities

Abstract

Ilorin metropolis consists of three Local Government Areas-Ilorin West, East, and South. The metropolis (Ilorin) is often polluted with heaps of refuse that are occasionally caused traffic hold-up in some strategic areas of the urban centre. A lot of health incidence resulting from water, air and pest borne diseases are not uncommon within and areas where prevalence of effluents prevailed. Management of waste in Ilorin and Kwara State in general has been the sole responsibility of the Kwara State Environmental Protection Agency (KWEPA) and other health management sectors in the recent past. The performance of these sectors had been rebuked as a result of their poor performance by the general public. This work presents a research effort aimed at identifying the factors that are responsible for the poor performance of KWEPA and other health sectors in the state and some other reasons that have led to the present Government contacting waste management to the hand of a company - “Ola Kleen” (alias clean and green) The outcome results show that both the Government financial supports to KWEPA and other Health Agencies in the past in terms of funding, manpower and equipment had been grossly inadequate, and misused. Improvement measures are suggested in the new tasks ahead of Kwara State Waste Management Company (KWMC) under the new dispensation of Ola Kleen.