Waste management and refuse disposal has always been a problem in Nigeria and espectially Lagos state. Hence it was a huge sigh of relief when the LAWMA-PPP came on stream. At first they were efficient- at least in my area they came on wednesdays and saturdays. You could bring out your bin, leave it on the curb before leaving for work on a wednesday morning and be sure it would be gone before you got back. Then they started defaulting and it was a good idea to store your waste till saturday when you would be around to take it the waste compactor yourself. And then it seemed, they simply got tired.

Days nay weeks may go by without any sign from the waste compactors. And then suddenly you'd hear 'they came yesterday o'. And so it became a game of store,store and store your refuse till the day you're fortunate they will drop by. If you are unlucky not to be around when they do come around, or you have nasty neighbours or like you they are also away at work with the kids at school, then keep on storing till further notice. Abeg!!!

Buying those big plastic bins with wheels- the type used abroad,  to store and leave your waste by the roadside for whenever they come around is also not an option because you can be sure as daylight that you may wake up the following day and not find it where you kept it. There is nothing people can't steal here. Don't be surprised it may even  be your neigbour and watch as she explains to you that she bought it yesterday. So a lot of people in my area resorted to patronisng cart-pushers and stopped paying LAWMA bill. I'm not a fan of using cart-pushers but really there's a l imit to which someone can store waste o!

And so the deal is, the LAWMA officials now go about houses with a microphone calling defaulters' house or flat number with the amount they were billed to come and pay thus tacitly forcing people to pay for a service they are not using simply because they don't want to be embarassed. If you walk up to the microphone totting official to complain he simply tells you cart pushers are illegal and you have to keep storing your refuse till whenever the compactor comes calling. He's not ready to talk about their poor service delively. His own is simply pay up or face the embarassment!

Nigeria is really a jungle and it's such a pity the way people go on 'suffering and smiling' in the words of Fela. Rather than getting their acts together and looking at how to improve their service so people are encouraged to pay their bills like they were doing before, the LAWMA officials simply resorted to bullying. It's such a shame. I pray and hope for a better Nigeria!

I live somewhere close to Oshodi and the case is very different. The LAWMA private operator company comes around every monday to pick refuse. There are have been time in the past that they failed to come as scheduled, i simply just called the phone number on the bill and they come the next day. If you pay for a service you have the right to demand performance. As per the waste disposal receptacles, houses use it in my area i guess they were given after paying tenement rate/land use charge, all they do is to inscribe their house address clearly on it. In my house we use refuse bags which we place by the gate every monday.

I would advise that you call the number of your if there is one or look for time and go to your LG secretariat and speak to the LAWMA psp operator there.