As an academic in South Africa, who often works in other Southern African countries, I often find myself reading and citing work on waste management in Nigeria, so I don't entirely agree that its an irrelevant subject in the country or that there is little research. I think your question is more rooted in frustration over a failure to convert research to practice, which is perhaps more of a policy or implementation discussion?

Have a look at @Hans Breukelman's work, Book Failing Services on Urban Waste Management in Developing Cou...

Surry i dont know the reasons

Challenges in waste management - Nigeria are mentioned herewith in the link

https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/206499999.pdf

This is not just about waste management but a lot of other stuff. There is shortage data. Most waste management companies and institutions either do not keep data or the data is not publically available. Also many existing publications on the subject matter are not online and so tucked up in the libraries and archives. This is because many local journals are only available in the print.

Lack of incentive policies of the government and lack of attention of the authorities

Waste management is certainly not an irrelevant subject of environmental studies. In fact, it should be one of the most important aspects. In my view, it is a question of priorities. In a country richly endowed with natural resources, the temptation is to exploit them as much as possible, leaving waste considerations in a marginal position. To solve this problem there should be a national perception of the importance of the environment and all levels of government have to back the adequate environmental regulations and adopt a more long-term attitude. From the economic viewpoint, it may help to consider waste as an opportunity rather than a cost and perform analyses that can transform the current linear economy into a circular economy. In the particular case of crude oil, it may be encouraging to see that too much concentration in the exploitation of this resource can lead to the neglect of other sectors (remember the Dutch disease) and to an unbalanced economy.

When I compare Nigeria to Cameroon, I guess that there is still a lot of space to dispose of our waste. As land resources become limited, sustainable methods of waste management will be developed

Divine N. Tarla Having a lot of space for waste disposal is an incentive for postponing a sustainable solution and eventually the problem instead of fading away gets bigger with time often with unwanted results (contamination of underground water, disease dissemination, and adverse effects on fauna and flora among others). A very important initial step would be sorting out the different types of generated waste and doing research on the different solutions applicable to each of them (organic waste susceptible to be transformed into fertilizer, recyclable plastics, recyclable glass, waste-to-energy possibilities). At an early stage, it's possible to design relatively simple solutions. Educating young students in this matter can be of great help and generate citizens' consciousness for the future.

Very well said by Marc Kalina that it is not a irrevalent subject anywhere in the world. Work is being done everywhere but at a very slow pace at some other places mainly due to local government policies and incentive programs

As mentioned by S J Malik it is a relevant subject everywhere but some countries are facing the challenge with more determination and resources than others and waste doesn't know about physical borders. Fairly recent types of waste such as microplastics have the capacity to disseminate to the most unsuspected locations (Antarctica, ocean depths), and new types of waste such as e-waste have the potential to grow exponentially and cause great damage to the environment if untreated. Global regulation of waste should be enforced before it's too late.

This is not only work of government and not only work of public. But both need to work combinely on this issue and solve this issue. And also need to keep scavenger for collection of waste and need to be landfill

The different government levels (local, regional and national) have to be involved with the public. Still, the national government needs to adopt a leadership role in developing a robust waste management policy as an essential part of the environmental policy. The challenge is to incentivize all the interest groups to obtain visible results in the short-term but never forgetting the long-term goals. Health issues and soil and water degradation are at stake.

Just like many other African countries, Nigeria has enacted a number of policies and legal provisions, as well as creating institutions and systems at different levels of governance. However, implementing these guidelines that include research into proper ways of waste handling and recycling for use, for instance biogas production from human waste has not been given great attention.

Developing countries inadequate funds mean less of their budget is channeled towards research, with a greater portion handed to more pressing fields like medicine, food security and non renewable energy.

Over 70% of African populations reside in rural areas and since the waste problem is regarded 'an urban issue', there is still available space for waste disposal in towns and cities, hence local governments have postponed the problem until they feel waste handling units are overwhelmed. This has got a huge effect on waste management research.

Failure to implement and upscale research findings and results from the Waste Management studies by donors, funders and governments : has negatively affected number of researchers entering the field

It is not my sister. Researches are actually ongoing on waste here in Nigeria. Like my Boss, Abdulhameed Mambo said, some are actually not uploaded.

i produced a local cement using agro-industrial waste (ie Millet Husk Ash- Calcium Carbide Waste). i know a lot is done on Biochar.

Although, our government are not taking waste management seriously, an average nigerians does not see the need to dispose waste properly, it is that worse.

just let us keep the best at our end, and let us keep educating & sensitizing the populace on the subject matter.

Thanks

It is essential to be persistent and avoid the frustration that failed attempts provoke. Clinton Simiyu Waswa has expressed it clearly, and I appreciate the perception he conveys. In my view, I think that in the current state of affairs, it would be very beneficial to count on a symbolic success story. That could be recycling paper, glass, plastics, or other materials easily observed by the public and in the hands of a public or private company that manages to make a profit in the recycling operations. This success can incentivize others to follow similar steps in a contagious way. The important thing is to prove the environmental initiative's economic feasibility and show the environmental benefits if possible with the aid of public institutions. Public-private partnerships will probably receive more support from citizens.

I don't think there are limited studies on waste management in Nigeria. Myself alone i have written ten papers and one book chapter which can be found on my Research gate profile page. If you say there are few companies undertaking waste management as a business then i will agree with you as many do not consider it as a profitable business except in big cities.

Even in large cities, there may not be sufficient incentives for private companies to manage waste or if they do it, possibly in an inconvenient way. The result may be a hazard for public health. Important as it is, waste management should be under the control of public authorities. Ideally, private-public partnerships should get involved and perform the most necessary tasks. There might not be significant economic gains but a desirable goal is maintaining the health standards at an adequate level.