There is a growing concern in Nigeria on the menace of indiscriminate disposal of solid wastes in the nation’s urban centres. The solid waste management problems in many cities seems to have defiled all technical and financial solutions committed to it by the three tiers of government in Nigeria and other stakeholders. To provide an insight into human factors that are responsible for the failure, this study was carried out to determine the residents’ awareness, attitude and participation in solid waste management in Makurdi, capital city of Benue State, Nigeria. A survey of Makurdi metropolis was conducted, entailing the division of the city into three environmental zones based on population density. It was discovered that across zones there was little variation in the residents awareness of waste reduction, reuse, recycling and composting. The study also show that the residents’ attitude towards waste management is not positive and their. levelof participation in solid waste. management is intolerably low. Amongst others, the study recommends that an award by the state or local government should be given to the cleanest street or estate as a motivating incentive and encouragement; programmes on solid waste management issues should be instituted in mass media to increase resident’s awareness; there should be a political will on the part of relevant stakeholders to pursue a sustainable solid waste management.
