ABSTRACT
In spite of the efforts of tstate government in Nigeria to clean up Makurdi, the situation with waste accumulation in the residential areas and throughout the entire town continues to deteriorate on a daily basis. The problem is made even more severe by the fact that there are plastic bottles and papers wrapped in polythene all around the town. These items can be found everywhere. In addition to that, visitors who are unfamiliar with the area may notice heaps of waste in various locations outside residential neighborhoods. These heaps of garbage are a nuisance for people who are new to the area. A further factor that has contributed to the current state of affairs is the high population and economic activity that is concentrated in the town, which has been accompanied by a rapid rise in the amount of solid waste that has been produced as a result of production and consuming activities. This study investigated several approaches to the management of solid waste and the degradation of the environment in Nigeria. To investigate the influence of location of Households on the disposal of solid waste; to investigate the influence of garbage disposal facilities and technologies on the disposal and management of solid waste; and to determine how various methods of waste disposal and management are impacted by the levels of education and awareness. These are the objectives of the study. In this particular piece of research, a descriptive survey served as the research design, and cluster, purposive, and random sampling were the methods that were utilized to choose the sample. For the purpose of this study, a representative sample of 400 participants was used. Although guided interviews and observation were also employed to gain knowledge and information, the primary data collection tool for this study was a questionnaire. Additionally, knowledge and information were gathered through the use of a questionnaire. After the data acquired was analyzed with the SPSS tool, it was presented with the help of frequency and percentage Tables. According to the findings of the study, the citizens of Makurdi are unaware of any responsibility or stated technique of waste management that has been implemented by the authorities in order to maintain the local government clean. According to the data, it was discovered that the size of a household was more important than its location in determining the amount of waste that it produced, even though the household could be in a completely different neighborhood. The data also make it abundantly evident that the majority of residents residing in Makurdi do not have access to waste disposal mechanisms, technologies, or facilities that are suitable to meet their needs. As a consequence of this, the majority of home rubbish is dispersed all over residential places, which gives the surroundings of the municipality a negative image. In addition, the most prevalent method of trash disposal that locals utilize is known as surface dumping, which refers to the dumping of domestic waste. Other techniques include burying the waste in the ground or burning it, though burying household waste is not as common as the other methods. According to the findings of the study, the government of Benue should establish dedicated garbage landfills in all residential areas. This would ensure that inhabitants would no longer throw their household rubbish all over the place, as they are prone to doing at the present time. People would see the logic in taking their waste to the authorized sites to dump it if there were more dumping places available, rather than scattering it around as they do now if there were more dumping places. Because it puts them at risk of catching infections, residents of Makurdi should be educated about the dangers of disposing of their waste close to residential areas and encouraged to cease doing so. Instead, the council ought to establish particular locations for the depositing and collecting of rubbish. The city council ought to get into contracts with various private rubbish collectors and request that they extend the services they already offer to the proprietors of businesses located along the main streets to the surrounding residential neighborhoods. This would result in a decrease in the amount of waste found in residential areas.
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