This book, a doctoral thesis published in the ‘Studies in Human Geography’ series of the University of Stockholm, discusses the governance of cities in Nigeria by looking at the failed attempt to set up a solid waste collection and recycling system in its capital, Abuja. The author attributes this failure in the first place to the exercise of ‘direct rule’ by the federal state in organising solid waste management in Abuja. This was driven by the large prestige of the newly established capital, yet the state lacked both the required contacts and an appropriate understanding of local waste practices, and therefore proved unable to govern effectively. Second, this diminished the role of local institutions such as the Abuja municipality and, in combination with the widespread problem of free riding following the introduction of waste collection fees, led to limited popular participation in waste collection measures. In sum, the book argues against the optimism often seen in urban planning, and urges to develop an eye for local configurations to appreciate the outcome of government policies.

This argument will probably not surprise readers familiar with city life in Africa. However the real problems of this book rest elsewhere. First, the author does not adequately convey a sense of what is specific to the Abuja case. The book teems with nonchalant comparisons with other cities, in Africa but also elsewhere, without specifying structural (dis)similarities with the Abuja case; this reduces the significance of the comparisons. Further, whereas urban waste obviously influences the quality of everyday life in the city, the views and considerations of ordinary Abujans are limited to isolated remarks.

The curious absence of local perspectives signals a second problem: evidence. The thesis is organised around a selection of published reports (including a large variety of official government publications), and the author demonstrates an admirable proficiency in reviewing them. However, the study includes less fieldwork than the author's concern with qualitative aspects of waste suggests: ‘Solid waste management is … a socially and culturally complex issue’ (p. 152). She does observe with great detail (rather obvious) phenomena, such as that waste collection in well-off areas is better organised than in poorer areas of the city (p. 115), or that waste production in large tracts of the city has not been planned for. Yet crucial information regarding important relations between, say, local and federal authorities are inferred from either press reports or talks with ‘representatives’. A case in point – ‘The difficulty of getting community leaders to work together started right at the beginning, but the chief of Nyanya [a city slum] is said to have intervened and brought the situation under control’ (p. 145) – draws on an interview with a deputy director; the concerned chief was not consulted.

In sum, in my view the author has missed an opportunity to direct the study towards an appreciation ‘from within’ of waste collection in Abuja, which limits its contribution to academic debates on urban governance in contemporary Africa.