Nigeria, June 7 -- Flies hover around heaps of rotting waste a few metres from Christian Mbalisigwe's point-of-sale (POS) stand at the Jakande roundabout in Ejigbo, Oshodi-Isolo Local Government Area in Lagos State. As buses slow to pick up passengers along the busy road, commuters cover their noses while others step around food waste, black nylon bags and dirty water trickling from piles of refuse in the centre of the road

For Mr Mbalisigwe, the smell has become part of daily life. From morning till evening, he attends to customers while facing piles of waste dumped opposite his kiosk. Sometimes, he said, the refuse remains there for days before officials clear it.

"It wasn't like this before," the 43-year-old said, recalling when the ...