Sometime last year, I was on my way
to the Lagos Island market and looking over the bridge during the ride there, I
was immediately put-off by the irritating sight as I watched a grown up man
well positioned as he squatted over the edge of a small canal by the road which
was obviously stagnant given the number of wastes that must have gone into it
as well as the many others who must have squatted and excreted just like the
man described earlier.
Fast forward to 2016 and a few weeks
back. I walked past a highbrow street and was again appalled by the stench that emitted
from the gutters. It was no doubts the smell of sh*t in the gutters, meaning
either some people empty their bowels directly in those gutters or some of the
houses are simply channeling their toilet pipes to the gutters. It’s one of the
two or else how can one explain the stench from the gutters.
And so it didn’t really come as a
shock to me when I read an article in the vanguard a few moments ago asserting
that millions of Nigerians defecate openly a few days after the World’s Toilet
Day.
The report as espoused by the
article says the reality of accessing sanitary toilets remains a mirage for
28.5 per cent of the Nigerian population (51.3 million persons) who have no
access to sanitary toilet facilities, according to UNICEF. When it’s time to go
to the toilet, this group of people have no option than to defecate in the
open, an act that threatens their health, dignity, safety and puts them at risk
of public health hazards making even women, girls and younger children with no
access to improved toilet facilities at home or in school especially vulnerable
adding also that beyond direct health risks, shame and potential violence are
constant reality for them when seeking a place to defecate.
According to the World Health
Organisation, WHO, 1 in 4 Nigerians defecate openly creating a medium for
potential transmission of the wild polio virus, cholera and hepatitis amongst
other infectious diseases because they have no access to adequate toilet
facilities. Additional data presented by UNICEF showed that an estimated 120
million people in the country lack access to improved sanitation facilities, or
facilities that hygienically separate human waste from human contact. The
economic impact of unsafe water, poor sanitation and hygiene depletes the
Nigerian economy by almost the equivalent of 1.3 percent of the Gross Domestic
Product, GDP, while 124, 000 under fives are lost annually as a result of
diarrhoea.
As Nigeria joined the rest of the
world to mark the day themed “Toilets and Job” calls have been made for the
circulation and sustenance of proper hygiene promotion messages to become a
social norm in addition to provision of improved sanitation facilities. In
Lagos, stakeholders demanded provision of functional and sanitary toilets in
schools and other public places across the city.
Addressing thousands of school
children in Shomolu and Bariga areas of Lagos during an event organised by Save
the Children (an NGO committed to welfare of children) to mark the day,
Behaviour Change Programme Manager for Save the Children, Mrs. Amaka Efionu,
said to end open defecation and attain the Sustainable Development Goals, SDGs,
target on sanitation, government and all stakeholders must come together to
increase functional toilets in the various communities particularly in schools
and public places.
While speaking, Efionu said “Toilets
play a crucial role in creating a strong economy. Lack of toilet facilities at
work and home has severe consequences, including poor health leading to
absenteeism, reduced concentration, exhaustion, and decreased productivity”.
She explained that availability of
functional toilets would encourage behavioural change in sanitation and
hygiene, noting that Lagos has 570 public toilets serving 21 million people.
Efionu also said in partnership with
the Lagos State Government, the efficacy of the WHO/UNICEFs 7- point plan for
the management and control of diarrhoea in children under the age of five, was
being put to test.
“We need functional toilets in the
sense that the toilets will not just be a physical facility but one that will
meet the needs of the population with water available at every point in time,
child- friendly and easy to flush after use. By making these things available
to the citizens of the state, we are saying no to open defecation. In no
distant time we will be able to say Shomolu and Bariga are free from open
defecation.”
Representative of the Ministry of
Local Government and Community Affairs, Mr Bello Akeem who spoke on the
importance of toilets said: “We are promoting toilets to put a stop to
diarrhoea and ultimately stop deaths from diarrhoea. It has been on record that
if we use toilets in the right way, we can prevent incidences of diarrhoea by
one third that is 1 out of 3 chances of contacting diarrhoea would have been
prevented. It is also important to have hand washing facility,” he added.
Also at a forum organised by RB West
Africa, makers of Harpic, to mark the World Toilet Day 2016, Lagos State
Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, urged Lagos residents to adopt regular hand
washing habits even as he advocated improved sanitary facilities. Ambode,
represented by Special Adviser on Environment, Mr. Babatunde Hunpe, observed
that it was a challenge providing adequate amenities such as water and public
sanitation in the state due to its large population. He remarked that there
were 570 public toilets sited at various locations across the city, but
lamented that they were inadequate to meet the needs of the huge population
estimated at 22 million.
Babatunde while speaking said the
theme was appropriate because awareness creation about the havoc of open defecation
and urination could minimise the menace as well as create job opportunities.
In his contribution, the Managing
Director, RB West Africa, Mr. Rahul Murgai regretted that Nigeria still ranks
5th in the world among countries where open defecation is a major problem.
Murgai hinted that as reinforcement
by Harpic’s Vision and commitment to arrest the problem of lack of access to
sanitation and open defecation, there was ongoing partnership with the Lagos State
Ministry of Environment that led to upgrading of toilet facilities within Apapa
LGA in the state.
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