While this program had temporary and limited success in Lagos, it
proved unsustainable. The Waste Disposal Board seldom supplied garbage
bins or emptied the "refuse houses" that were constructed. It could not
maintain its vehicles and other equipment. Although sanitary inspectors were
supposed to educate people about cleanliness and punish the uncooperative,
their reputation as bribe-takers undermined their authority. Since industrial
firms continued to dump their wastes wherever it was convenient, ordinary
citizens were reluctant to take environmental cleanliness very seriously. Aina,
Etta, and Obi (1994, 208) wrote in this regard: "The disposal of refuse is
hardly ever done correctly, with garbage being dumped in valleys or swamps,
and untreated industrial liquid being pumped into public drains and surface
water bodies.