Pained by the indiscriminate dumping of refuse at almost every corner across every city in Nigeria and the poor management of waste by the authorities, Jonathan Olakunle Olanlokun is on a serious mission to rid the streets of litter without any help from the Nigerian government.
If you peek into the gutters of streets in most urban cities of Nigeria, a filthy sight awaits you: papers, nylon water sachets, empty plastic bottles and other waste materials dumped by residents, gathering and clogging up the drainage channel.
It is also a common sight across the country to see heaps of festering trash dumps in almost every nook and cranny. Open spaces in residential areas, markets and streets, roadsides, water bodies and undeveloped plots of land are turned to waste dumps for many households.
With this reality, every morning, Olanlokun, disguised as a Spider-Man, ensures that the streets of the densely-populated city of Osogbo, the capital of Osun State in South West Nigeria, are clean. “I want to see a cleaner society,” he told The West African Pilot News.
He told our reporter that he started the voluntary clean-up exercise in 2004 “as a novice because it was important for me to do it and because I wanted to catch the attention of people to let them know that this waste matter that we take as nothing since it is not Premier league, Italian league, German league or Big Brother Naija (BBNaija) is actually a big deal.”
But observing that people didn’t take him seriously, he decided to start wearing the superhero dress in December 2021, and it has helped him get attention.”Putting on the Spider-Man costume now catches the attention of people,” he says.
A report noted that Nigeria generates 32 million tonnes of solid waste annually – one of the highest in Africa. The Nigerian National Municipal Waste Management Policy (2020) gives no estimate but states that “…Nigeria produces a large volume of solid waste out of which less than 20 per cent is collected through a formal system.”
The alarming rate of waste generation, however, is not only a Nigerian problem; it is a global challenge. According to the World Health Organisation, WHO, over two billion tons of solid waste – any type of garbage, trash, refuse or discarded material – are produced across the world annually. WHO further projects that the annual waste generation is expected to soar to 3.88 billion tonnes in 2050 as a result of rapid population growth and urbanization.
And though proper waste management is essential for building sustainable and livable cities, it remains a challenge for many developing countries, Nigeria inclusive. A greater number of Nigerians generate large volumes of solid waste without a discernible plan for proper disposal. These are either dumped in unauthorized places or burned, contributing to air, water and land pollution, and creating severe health hazards.
Yet, the country’s management of solid waste is problematic: the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency, NESREA, charged with the responsibility of waste management has not effectively lived up to expectations and the Nigerian National Municipal Waste Management Policy (2020), which has the potential to transform waste management around in the country, has not been fully implemented. Also, recycling, recognised as one of the best methods for waste management, has not gained mainstream attention.
Besides his routine street clean-ups, Olanlokun, a technician by profession, also raises awareness of the need for proper waste disposal and management in Nigeria via his Twitter (@NigerianSpider1) and Facebook (Nigerian Spiderman) pages. The environmental activist equally takes his initiative to schools, sharing his positive message on the importance of saving the environment with the younger generation.
Sharing his challenges with The West African Pilot News, Olanlokun says he needs support from “the people that get paid to do what I’m doing but who are not doing their job”, referring to Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Environment and other relevant government ministries, departments and agencies.
He added, “If it were to be overseas, America or the United Kingdom, the government will not hesitate to reach out to the person doing such a charitable job. BBC, Arise News and other media outlets have told my story, but the government is yet to reach out to me.”
Olanlokun also hopes that Nigerians would be more intentional about disposing of waste properly. “You needed a chilled bottle of water to satisfy yourself, you took out N100 or more to purchase a chilled bottle of water. You joyfully drank your bottled water, only for you to drop your empty plastic water bottle on the road. That attitude is wrong. Please, dispose properly,” he charged via a tweet.
