The secrets hiding in our environment, By ‘Tope Fasua

In several of my books I have agonised over our environment and the need for us to take a keen view and obsess about how we present ourselves. I recall writing a few articles with titles such as “It’s The Environment, Stupid!” (in the style of the famous Clintonian campaign slogan around the Economy in 1998), and “We Cannot Emphasise the Environment Enough”, among others. I pushed the matter in the public space to the extent that Nigeria – and most of Africa – really have little business for now, with the big Climate Change discussions which is the new obsession among developed countries who love to set agenda for everyone. I believe that being corralled into the Climate Change agenda may distract us from what really matters for us, and what is immediately achievable, which is the subject of how we can really take care of our own environment and pick up after ourselves. You cannot enroll for a PhD when you should be learning the ropes in primary school.

My many urban sojourns within Nigeria in recent times has compelled me to write on the environment, again. There seems to be an explosion of urban waste in places like Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Kano, and perhaps every state capital and large cities across Nigeria, with varying degrees of success in terms of their management. Refuse dumps have been occurring in different places where they hadn’t been in the past. At some point, it looked like deliberate sabotage – and that could be valid because all over the world one of the easiest ways to bring down governments is for whatever mafia that controls waste management to strike. We’ve seen this in the US (New York, New Jersey, California etc), in Italy (Napoli) and in the UK (Birmingham, London) etc.

Driving up the bridge from Bank Anthony way towards the local airport, there is a new refuse dump right at the beginning of the ramp. I recall when people from Old Ojo Road would rush across the express road to dump refuse on the rail track that was being constructed but hadn’t been commissioned. I recall the refuse dumps that assail the eyes when you take the train ride from Yaba to Abeokuta or Ibadan. Even in Gbagada, the green areas have been assaulted. This gives one great concern. In Abuja, many incidences of fly-tipping are recorded; people dumping their trash anywhere, perhaps at night. Large roundabouts are a popular spot. Also, the streams and waterways that snake through Abuja are favorite dumping spots. Even some prime lands which owners have abandoned over time are good spots for the dumping of waste. It’s just overwhelming!

Now, the reason they call some countries ‘shit-hole’ countries is because of their management of urban waste. No matter how adept a nation gets in building fantastic structures and infrastructure, the inability to get on top of waste management is a dead giveaway. Waste management and environmental sanity are therefore arduous tasks, especially because they require unending attention and action. But the approach whereby the government is the victim, running everywhere to pick up after people, and being vulnerable to sabotage, to political vendetta and such, can no longer be the solution. The new approach must actively involve everybody. The incentives must change and be enhanced. Can streets take responsibility for their own outlook? Can communities get rewarded for doing the right thing? Can everyone become a watchdog against improper behaviours? Can the structure we currently have for waste management be expanded urgently, with more equipment, more staff, more technology, and better logistics? Can waste management, and the obsession with a clean environment all over Nigeria be declared as an emergency?

Because what we see as chaos presently, with which political opposition can take digs against incumbent governments, is actually telling us something. It masks great secrets for where we must now head as a people.

The first secret is that an explosion of urban waste actually means urban growth, and probably better standards of living for the people. This World Bank article confirms this theory, meaning that the poverty narrative around Nigeria may not be the reality. The larger part of our urban waste consists of plastics, cartons, food waste, clothing, and such like.  The ubiquity of waste management issues should therefore not be seen simply as a disadvantage but as a sign that standards of living are increasing, therefore justifying the larger investments we must now make.

In some of my earlier books, I espoused how Nigeria could launch a large program which encompasses several ministries and which may be titled “Cleanest, Safest, and Most-Organised Nation in Africa Project”. I’ve been thinking about this for over a decade now and it keeps coming back. It is a project that allows us to work on the brains, minds and hearts of our people, to help us gain ownership of our country, one and all, to attract global respect, new investment and tourism, and help take the sail away from the incessant security challenge that we have. I cited the Broken-Windows Theory as an underpinning theoretical framework around such a project, because we need to understand that the bad habits that have now become a culture instead and so must be tackled at a high and comprehensive level.

The environment holds the secret to our greatness as a people. Whereas many Nigerians actively work towards the undoing of the country, but the efforts and striving of the true patriots who want her to make real progress will be enhanced if our environment is spick and span – or tending close to that. Nigeria needs investments. But before investments, we need our respect back from the world. This respect will not be obtained by force of arms but gently and quietly through how we reposition ourselves – especially our environment.

This is why I respect the work being done by people like Tokunbo Wahab in Lagos State. He gets it. Without those valiant efforts, that state – the most urbane in Nigeria and one which qualifies as a middle-income economy – would easily drown in filth and waste. The work hasn’t been fully grappled though. There is still so much to do. Tokunbo can see that it’s a big battle, as he tackles even larger issues of impunity, indiscriminate buildings that block water ways, and such like, and indiscriminate waste dumping everywhere.

A lot more investment is needed in new systems that will allow for waste evacuation. I urge governments at all levels to squeeze out the required money – even if they have to enter into Public-Private arrangements that allow them to spread the investment over time. The waste management business may look unappealing from a distance, but a closer look reveals a lucrative opportunity for everyone across the value chain—from collectors, recyclers and manufacturers to investors, governments and the Nigerian people. Waste is not merely a disposal problem; it is an economic resource waiting to be unlocked. It creates jobs, generates revenue, supplies raw materials, protects public health and improves the environment. In the circular economy, what one person throws away can become another person’s wealth. No investment is a waste—pardon the pun!

We need a national program though; one upon which we can anchor the emotions of our people, one around which we can rally the energy of millions of Nigerians. It is about visioning. It is about optics. We cannot keep inviting foreigners into this country while we leave our environment to chance. We already are coming from a position of disadvantage as a people. The world distrusts us. Around kitchen tables, they talk about Nigeria with suspicion, a little disdain, sometimes pity. Many are unable to express themselves openly about Nigeria because of our status. We are important. But we can do better by starting to position ourselves as a decent nation.

To this extent, as I’ve always asserted, Nigeria can employ and engage millions of her people around environmental work. We can nitpick about our environment. We can expand the circular economy and capture more of our solid waste for recycling. We can enforce more. Our people should be afraid to throw trash from their cars and buses or simply litter the streets. There should be a standing environmental taskforce. Those environmental workers of old (the wolewoles) did a great service to rewire our people’s mentality. Honestly, we need that back today. We haven’t yet graduated from that level to begin to self-regulate. We can see the reality because our now exploded population has become even more careless with the way we keep our environment. As we say in Nigeria, the ‘anyhowness’ is just galling. A renewed focus on the environment, the recruitment of millions of especially young people into sustainable careers there will achieve the following:

1. Reduce unemployment – especially in these times when we have to battle with the effect of AI on human employment. We have a great opportunity.
2. Increase GDP growth by between 2 per cent to 4 per cent.
3. Help drive new investments into Nigeria, creating new value chains and a new buzz around Nigeria.
4. Improve our dented image by focusing the world on a new energy around Nigeria.
5. Restore our respect in the comity of nations.
6. Rewire the mentality of our people and infuse a new, solid pride in our young ones as they face the future.
7. Reveal the true beauty of our nation and release a deluge of foreign capital inflow – from diaspora and foreigners alike, reversing the phenomenon whereby money only leaves Nigeria but never comes back.
8. Takes attention away from the negative news around our country such as insecurity, corruption etc.
9. Position Nigeria as a true leader in Africa.

I have proposed over time that Nigeria could launch a campaign titled “The Cleanest, Safest, Most-Organised Country in Africa” project. We could call it the COSMOS Project for want of something snazzy. This gives us a programme around which we can rally our efforts and set our vision in a renewable fashion. Of course, we don’t have to achieve this in a jiffy, but a lot will start changing in a short while. I dream about that day. I believe strongly that this is possible. And countries around us are getting smarter. I visited Benin Republic months back for the first time and I saw something similar on the streets of Cotonou. An American lady who came to Nigeria for holidays also visited Benin and was so incensed with Nigeria upon her return. Our population is not an excuse. Our minds, our vision, our standards are the problem. But those can be fixed. I write as an economist. I know that this is a sure bet to permanently reposition our economy for the long term. Not everything is anchored on electricity and natural resources. Sometimes the real solutions are much more subtle, and are there in the open, beckoning on us to act.

See below a chart showing the magnitude of what we can achieve:

‘Tope Fasua is the special adviser to the President on Economic Matters.