Garbage Politics

Abstract

The article provides insights into how a Private Sector Partnership (PSP) between government and local firms in Lagos, Nigeria, became enmeshed in local politics. Drawing largely on primary data, it reports that aided by a discourse which positioned the PSP as the embodiment of local interests, the partnership was deployed by politicians to generate political capital. Furthermore, Mega Infrastructure Projects (MIP s) paved the way for the government to intervene in the partnership. The hiring of a foreign firm by the government was seen by local firms as an attempt to marginalise them and by politicians as a challenge to entrenched local powers. Local firms fought back by creating strategic alliances and networks with politicians. Hence, the PSP was turned into a site of resistance politics. Ultimately, the saga led to the unravelling of the partnership. At the broadest level, the article highlights how globally circulating neoliberal urban visions are grounded within specific cities.