Economic factors affecting environmental pollution in two Nigerian cities: A comparative study

Environmental quality is a sustainability issue influenced by economic realities. To understand their relationships and influence, a comparative study of economic factors that affect pollution in Iwo and Ibadan metropolia was carried out. Data for the study was generated by administering 1067 structured questionnaires at both locations out of which 215 and 658 were, respectively, retrieved from Iwo and Ibadan. Demographic features of the respondents assessed as female gender, married status, tertiary education, a Christian sect, and household size of two to five, were 52%, 67%,79%, 67%, and 55% in that order for Iwo; while for Ibadan, the figures were 67%, 61%, 86%, 69%, and 58% in the same order. The six economic factors evaluated were; (1) income, (2) accommodation & living standards, (3) waste & noise management regimen, (4) energy utilization (5), inclination toward a green economy, and (6) waste sorting technology and adoption. KMO (74.8%) and Bartlett's Test of Sphericity showed that the data were factorable at p < 0.005. Results considered three of the economic variables as significant enough to explain 59.3% of the pollution state in Iwo and 60.2% in Ibadan. Of major importance for Iwo were waste & noise management regime (22.5%), accommodation & living standards (18.7%), and inclination towards a green economy (18.3%). In Ibadan, the three extracted factors also explained 60.2% of all economic variables affecting pollution. These were accommodation and living standards (24.4%), inclination towards a green economy (18.8%), and waste & noise management regime (17.0%). That means the strong economic influencers of pollution were common to both cities, even though, their order of importance varied. In other words, their degree of influence on pollution may be location dependent. Conclusively, the people's standard of living and inclination towards a green economy are compelling determinants of environmental pollution and so should be considered by stakeholders in formulating associated policies.