Never have Lagosians been so knowledgeable about waste and dustbins. The battle between young Turk and budding corporate juggernaut, Niyi Makanjuola against entrenched interests in the fifth largest economy in Africa centres on sanitation-usually dominated by a mafia in most cities, is indeed one worth watching.
He has taken on the old guard and is leading the charge in residential waste collection with Visionscape- a UAE based company, an international consortium of technical partners and what is rumored to be a “bulletproof structure” backed by law.
The young man appears to have taken a leaf out of Dangote’s playbook and is taking no prisoners. There were talks of discussions with Kenya and Ghana authorities floating across the Ugandan and Kenyan news and it looks as if domination of the entire industry accross the subcontinent is within his sights.
These big moves are especially interesting given a recent UNICEF statement that Nigeria requires a whopping $8bn per annum (N2.8 trillion) to address sanitation issues, proving that waste management is a highly expensive proposition which requires heavy infusion of capital to crack. Having begun the task of cleaning Lagos, let’s see how this unfolds!