Every part of the world has natural endowments, but some parts are more naturally endowed than others.? In this part of the world, (Nigeria) our natural endowments are so vast that some are even being overlooked or ignored.
A case study of waste management in Kaduna state in particular, that readily comes to mind is the use of already used metals, aluminium, rubber and other wastes.?
Metals and aluminium are dumped everywhere including roadsides, market places, shopping areas, schools etc as wastes without minding their usage as most of these things end up in refuse? dump sites.
Today, the story is not the same, when LEADERSHIP SUNDAY conducted an in-depth survey, on the issue where it was realized that a lot of people now understand the economic importance of these used items as a means of livelihood.
In the heart of Kaduna metropolis, LEADERSHIP SUNDAY found out that while many youth roam the streets for white collar jobs, others who did not acquire formal education have refused to do so or go on drugs but chose to become scavengers for some of these waste materials which they sell to end users who finally convert them to other uses such as making aluminium pots, petty car parts like wheel covers, knots and rear light covers.
Research has indicated that an average kitchen in every household uses no fewer than five to 10 recycled aluminium or metal. For example, a rubber spoon, cup, basket, bucket, kettle, food flask, vacuum flask, slippers and leather carpets are made from these recycled wastes.
Muhammad Kabiru is 26 years old, born and brought up at Unguwar Shanu, Kaduna.? He managed to complete his secondary school education but could not further his studies due to financial problems and decided to become a full-time scavenger.
Everyday he woke up in the morning he went round picking up these items.? He picked up? the challenge of having to trek long distances to many refuse dump sites searching for these assorted used items, and selling them at very cheap prices.? He made between N100 and N150 per day.
However, after doing this for almost three years, he discovered the secret of? how these raw materials are being recycled.?
Therefore, he decided to own his mini shop where he sorts out these items into categories such as those he can sell to dealers situated very close to his shop, which saves him the cost of having to transport the raw materials.??
While other used metals such as old motorcycles, old cooking stoves, lamps, refrigerator parts, metal kettles and, cans are supplied to big dealers who usually transport them to places like Kano, Lagos and Onitsha where they are recycled .
He stays in the shop most times to buy these wastes from young boys at the rate of between N25 per kilogram of rubber and N150 for aluminium products. The scavengers now go from house to house searching for these materials because people no longer throw out these items at refuse dumps.
Salisu, one of the scavengers said people no longer put these items in the bin. He told LEADERSHIP SUNDAY:? “We have to buy them either from the little boys? who pick the materials from? refuse dumps or directly? from the people at home, thereafter sort and sell them out to the big dealers.
Mohammed Kabiru, without formal education due to the peculiarity of his predicament, is now converting wastes to wealth, with employees under him and by so doing has touched the lives of others in his little way.
When LEADERSHIP SUNDAY contacted a man who has the wherewithal to invest in the business of recycling wastes at a secondary level, he said the business is a lucrative one.
Alhaji Abubakar Jada is a civil servant but decided to go steps ahead of these scavengers by producing a type ‘A’ rubber processing machine that processes and supplies tonnes of processed rubber to manufacturers directly .
When Leadership SUNDAY visited Alhaji Abubakar’s factory, he said they obtain plastic materials from various scavengers who either buy or get them from the general dump sites.? “When we buy them for between N30 to N35 each, we wash them well and then process them as raw materials after sorting them out”.?
According to him, “…the white- coloured is more preferred followed by other colours, but the black is the cheapest”.? He said they have customers in Kano, Lagos as well as Onitsha.? “Today I supplied about 10 tonnes of the itemsto plastic manufacturing companies”, said Abubakar.
Abubakar has only two number of processing machines that process and recycle the rubber as plastic raw materials, and the price depends on the law of demand and supply.
He urged people, especially the politicians and the government as well to harness the opportunity and venture into this type of business as it creates jobs for our teeming youth, generates revenue, tidies our environment for a clean and healthy society as well as moves the economy forward.? It is a business you can start with N150,000 only.
According to Abubakar, the only challenge is that of power supply because the demand is very high as some manufacturers even book in advance.? “A situation where we have 10 recyclers in a state, will go a long way in curbing unemployment as well elevating the standard of living without waiting on the government to do so”.
Hajiya Sa’adatu Ahmed, a matron of FOMWAN speaking with LEADERSHIP SUNDAY, however, spoke about the health implications of scavenging in dump sites. According to her, “children that scavenge are from indigent homes where their parents can hardly afford to feed them talk more of affording their footwears.
These children hustle to make a living for themselves by scavenging in waste bins and dump sites filled with bacteria. Bacteria are the source of all diseases, so when a child goes to a dustbin and deeps his hands into the bin, his hands come out with millions of bacteria”.
“And when the child goes from one public refuse dump to another searching for this waste materials to sell to dealers at cheap prices, he would definitely use his hands? at some point? maybe to eat lunch without washing them with soap and water.
“In fact some of these scavengers even eat from food remnants thrown as wastes. They swallow a lot of bacteria that could cause them illnesses such as bronchitis of the lungs, scabies of the skin, hepatitis etc.
“There are other children that go to these dump sites to spit out sputum which may contain tuberculosis, and there are broken bottles and other sharp objects in the dump sites too.
These sharp objects may pierce their feet causing them tetanus, while the sputum gives them tuberculosis,? which they eventually carry home and spread there”, she added.