Energy has a major impact on socio-economic development by playing a key role in economic, social and political advancement of any Nation. Inadequate supply of energy limits advancement in all spheres, thereby causing depreciation in the quality of life among citizens. Small-scale businesses in Nigeria also have their fair share of the effects of inadequate energy supply in Nigeria. This study aims to analyze the awareness, economic and environmental effects, and attitudes of generator usage by small-scale businesses and to bring about awareness on the alternatives and benefits of the national grid system. This study analyses how small-scale businesses in Nigeria manage to keep their business alive by using alternative energy supply such as diesel-fuel generator. This challenge facing the small-scale business sector is due to the inadequate power supply. The effect of generator usage on their businesses and the environment was analyzed in this study. To successfully achieve the aim of the study, a hundred small-scale business owners in Aku-re, Ondo State and Benin City, Edo State, both in Nigeria were interviewed face-to-face. The results show that, 77% of business owners didn’t see generator usage as environmentally friendly and 71% also did not see it as yielding profit to their businesses. Considering their annual turnover, 74% of small-scale businesses were willing to pay more for constant, electricity supply that is environmentally friendly. In addition, businesses with lesser income spend 46% of their annual income on fueling and maintenance of their generator. The age range that are into small scale businesses were between 20 – 24 years with highest rate of 32%. This shows that more youth are willing to start creative and innovative enterprise to reduce the unemployment rate in the country if there is stable energy supply. This study also suggested some solutions to improve Nigeria’s power supply and help businesses to grow. It is expected that this study will help policy makers, stake holders, investors and business owners to understand the effect of generator usage as an alternative power supply on the economy and the environment.

The study was conducted to examine the environmental impact of the main waste dumpsite in Uyo metropolis. It aimed at examining the types of wastes disposed in Uyo main dumpsite, perception of the public on the dumpsite location and operational activities, impact of the waste dumpsite on health, soil and water quality of the surrounding land and waste management strategies adopted at the waste dumpsite. A total of two hundred households were selected and administered with structured questionnaires out of which one hundred and ninety-two questionnaires were retrieved in usable forms. A total of fifty (50) workers were also selected at the dumpsite and interviewed with the questionnaires at the waste dumpsite thereby retrieving all the fifty (50) questionnaires. The questionnaires collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results showed that majority of the residence and the workers were male with 66.7% and 64 % respectively. Marital status of the respondents revealed that most of the residence and dumpsite workers were married with 70.3 % and 48 % respectively. Result also revealed that majority of the residence were between 31-40 years with 51 % while majority of the dumpsite workers aged between 41 and 50 years (40 %) with no respondent below 20 years. The highest occurring level of education of the residence was secondary school with 51.6 % followed by tertiary education with 24 % while the highest occurring education among the dumpsite workers was secondary school with 48 % followed with no formal education with 26 %. Employment status of most of the residence was self-employed with 54.2 % followed by employed with 27.1% while the employment status of most of the dumpsite workers was employed with 48 % followed by self-employed by 32 %. The highest housing status among the residence was tenant with 83.3 % while house owners occupy the remaining 16.7 %. The highest occurring types of wastes disposed on the dumpsite include food wastes with 100 % of the residence and dumpsite workers followed by nylon with 100 % of the residence and dumpsite workers respectively while textile waste was the third ranking type of waste disposed in the dumpsite with 94.3 % of the residence and 68 % of the dumpsite workers. Majority of the residence (91.7%) accepted that they can contact sickness and diseases from the dumpsite while all the dumpsite workers (100 %) accepted that they can contact sickness and diseases from the dumpsite. Also, 96.9 % of the residence accepted that the dumpsite affects soil and water quality in the surrounding as also confirmed by all the dumpsite workers (100%) while 68 % objected to the dumpsite location. The study has shown that food wastes is the highest occurring type of waste disposed in the dumpsite followed by nylon and plastic. The food debris has the potential to be composted and plastics can be recycled, which were mainly disposed without separation. Therefore, it is recommended that MSW management authority should focus on utilizing this organic waste through a larger scale and wider involvement of households in composting programme.