Decision makers are continuously in search of a comprehensive yet simple means of assessing
solid waste management to make effective and informed decisions. This is particular so for
situations like Nigeria where streets are full of waste, many households have no waste
collection services and a high rate of vehicle and equipment breakdown is recorded.
Assessment is also crucial at a time when many waste management authorities are trying to
embark on new revolutionary contracts with the private sector. Solid Waste Management
assessment is a complex multi-dimensional process, involving multiple criteria and multiple
actors and the many components that make up the system. Although various options such as
incineration, gasification and composting are available as a solution for waste management,
these options also add to the complexity of the situation in determining most preferred
alternatives and decisions. In this study, an in-depth investigation of solid waste management
in Nigeria is conducted by quantifying sustainable development to develop an assessment tool.
Sustainable development with respect to solid waste management was broken down into its
aspects and factors that influence those aspects in a hierarchy of three levels according to the
procedure of analytic hierarchy process. Solid waste management practitioners across five
locations representing Nigeria's multiple ethnic groups and diverse cultures and the climatic
zones as well as four work sectors were surveyed. Data was obtained from a paired
comparison based questionnaire survey using Analytic Hierarchy Process. A function was
derived that illustrates the potential of SD as a tool for solid waste management assessment.
General agreement across sectors was recorded but significant differences exist between
regions. The regional difference highlighted indicates context as highly influential. Quick
response and cooperation of participants suggests sympathy towards female researcher while
slow contact establishment was recorded in Lagos despite an alliance with an indigene of the
region. The function derived was adopted to evaluate the solid waste management strategy in
Kaduna metropolis of Nigeria using a case study methodology. The accomplished assessment
has shown that waste management strategies can be evaluated with the tool developed in this
study. An index of 0.457 was established from the evaluation that employed the use of
indicators, scoring and normalisation. High scores assigned to indicators will result in a high
index, which suggests an effective strategy.