Curbing/Mitigating Indiscriminate Waste Dumping Through Effective Stakeholder Relations

Waste management in Nigeria and other developing countries has remained chaotic in spite of institutional and legal framework initiated to check the menace of reckless waste disposal. As a result of this scenario, this article undertakes a study of indiscriminate dumping of waste phenomenon and proposes effective stakeholder relations anchored on a combination of environmental participatory decision making tools as a mitigating measure. Survey method was used to discover issues, and reasons why stakeholders to environmental/sanitation projects showed laxity in taking ownership of and/or protecting their immediate environment. Stakeholder relations recognizes waste control/management as a project whose success aptly depend on the active role of each stakeholder; hence, those who manage waste control projects must identify, analyze the relevant stakeholders and engage them appropriately so that they can willingly participate and take responsibility and ownership of the environment. This article assumes that when effective stakeholder relations are adopted it will engender hygienic behavior change amongst relevant stakeholders. It concludes that active cooperation of individuals and community participation in waste management is a function of effective stakeholder relations.