A few days ago, the Lagos State Government went on a raid and arrested 150 “cart-pushers” for illegal disposal of waste. Their alleged offence was dumping thrash on the roadside after sorting out recyclables from the waste stream they collect door-to-door.

Looking at it from point of view of the Lagos State Government, who are working tirelessly to keep Lagos clean, such behaviour constitutes a nuisance for everyone. However, “cart-pushers” happen to be the cornerstone of recycling in Lagos— without them a significant quantity of recyclables will end up unrecovered in Lagos. These cart pushers typically have a low income status and do this job in attempt to make a honest living. I certainly don’t support post-collection littering but I also don’t believe arresting them is an effective way of curbing this act — This approach will discourage people from this type of job, and the ensuing desperation could probably sway them towards crime, which could potentially end up being a bigger problem for the city.

I came across an opinion on Instagram suggesting a solution to this problem:

Wish I could drop multiple likes for that one 🙂