3. 2. LAWMA - Ojota dumpsite, Lagos, Nigeria

Finally at LAWMA – Lagos Waste Management Authority. Managing director Ole Oresanya welcomed us in his office.

What happened to Lagos within the last years? Mr. Oresanya confirmed, that Lagos had a huge waste-problem several years ago. The city now has about 18 million inhabitants, which means: when everybody drops a piece of paper a day, it makes 18 million pieces of waste! Since the democratisation of Nigeria in 1999, the government decided to make a plan to keep Lagos clean, as lots of waste means more frustration, more aggression, and more crime.

Together with LAWMA, the government developed a concept for efficient waste management, and since a few years, it really works.

Lagos generates about 9,000 metric tons of wastes daily (0.5 kg/person/day), 80 percent of this waste can be recycled. Under the city’s recycling initiative called ‘zero waste programme’, organic waste, which makes up 60 percent of the city’s waste is being recycled into compost. This is used for a green programme aimed at beautifying the city with trees and flowers. Additionally, Oresanya is looking at waste as a tool of job creation and poverty reduction.

LAWMA didn´t have half of the lorries they needed, so they included private companies to bring the waste to the dumpsites. In the meantime, they have almost half the lorries they need - around 500.

Joachim will write more about LAWMA.

We went to their biggest landfill in Ojota, Lagos to interview the scavengers there, together with Nigerian photographer Akintunde Akinleye.

After arriving, the geologist of LAWMA was about to go to a meeting. Quickly she explained, that the smoke coming out of parts of the dumpsite due to the high pressure of waste will be used for methan gas production soon.

There are about 2000 scavengers collecting useful waste on Ojota dumpsite every day. Some of them live there, some just go there to work. Many of them come from other Nigerian states. They are all independent contractors, working under highly dangerous conditions: caterpillars and lorries are rolling between people who try to grab the most precious things before the others get them.

The scavengers are mostly specialised: some on collecting cloth, plastic, metal or paper, some collect suitcases and bags, repair them and sell them on the nearby second-hand market. E-waste is not allowed on site, but some does appear from the general waste collected all over Lagos.

People are cooking and eating between the waste, white birds join them. Patricia, one of the scavengers, offered to cook pasta for us. Some people did not want us to take photos of them, they were afraid, that their friends and family might find out, where they work. Some were really proud of their work and appreciated us being with them in the waste and bad smells. When I started to collect dividends for our lucky shareholders, they started to respect us being one of them – although a bit stupid, because we did not collect the “valuable” waste.