Health Implications of Ineffective S.W.D for Urban Residents

The phenomenal rate of urbanization in Nigerian cities has led to a number of environmental problems including solid waste disposal. Improper solid waste disposal has significant impact on the health of our urban populace. The researcher adopted the survey design and sourced data by means of structured questionnaires and in-dept interview. The sample size was five hundred and seventy six (576) respondents. Data was analysed with statistical tools especially, tables, frequency distribution and percentages. The findings revealed that poor solid waste disposal in Awka has a lot of health implications ranging from diarrhea, cholera, typhoid, asthma, bronchitis and many others. The study further discovered that several factors militate against effective waste disposal in Awka. The salient ones are rapid population growth, poor solid waste disposal culture, shortage of waste disposal Personnel, inadequate resources for waste clearing and disposal and high rate of illiteracy. It was recommended among others that there should be public enlightenment campaign as well as introduction of environmental education at all levels of our educational system.