Pressured to use the restroom, a motorcycle operator, Mustapha Mahmood was recently sighted by students of Koroduma Government Secondary School, One Man Village, Nasarawa State, while defecating openly in a bush path beside the school premises.
As early as 5:30 am to 6:30 am and at night residents are seen in the school environs defecating in the open.
Apparently angered by the persistent act of Okada riders and other residents in the FCT suburb, the students could not watch Mahmood and others continue to defecate in the school surrounding as their ball occasionally perched on his poo while playing football in the school’s football field.
Efforts by the students to stop him led to a disagreement between the Okada rider and the students who told him to use his hands to collect the poo. The disagreement was, however, settled by a passersby.
Mahmood claimed he was pressured to use the toilet and could not find one nearby in the community which is just about 15 kilometers to the Federal Capital Territory.
A resident of the community, who stressed that urgent action should be taken to check sanitation and hygiene in the community said, “The brazing act of open defecation stresses the need for government to address the scourge of open defecation in the area in line with Executive Order 009 on Open Defecation by the federal government.”
To avert the trends, Sabo said such efforts should include empowering a task force team to arrest anyone caught defecating in the open if the government is serious to end open defecation or attain Open Defecation Free (ODF) status.
“It is not uncommon to see people getting from water-related ailment such as diarrhoea, anyone caught defecating in the open should be arrested and prosecuted,” he said.
Corroborating Sabo’s claim, another resident of the community, Salamatu Mohammed described the high level of open defecation in the area as very “shameful”. She noted that the act has led to serious health issues in the suburb, calling for a concerted effort to halt the menace.
Salamatu urged people who don’t have toilets to construct toilets in their homes or use public toilets.
According to her, “It is unthinkable for someone to urinate on the street in saner climes, talkless of defecating. The government should step up action to stop open defecation not only in this community but the nation as a whole. It is very shameful that our people will build houses without toilet facilities and be defecating in the open.
“It is even better here. The last time I was in Osun state open defecation seemed to be a norm in that state. I don’t know maybe it is a tradition to build a house without toilets.
“Government should declare a state of emergency on open dedication if they want to end it and act promptly.”
It would be recalled that in 2019, President Muhammadu Buhari signed Executive Order 009, titled: “The Open Defecation-free Nigeria by 2025 and other related matters.” The order is to ensure that Nigeria becomes open-defecation-free by 2025.
A fortnight ago, the minister of Water Resources, Suleiman Adamu, lamented the ineffectiveness of states in enforcing water and sanitation regulations and their indifference to such issues.
Adamu said it has become imperative to restrategise and ensure the approach is reinvigorated in order to address some of the challenges identified including funding gaps as a way to change the narrative.
He said: “Some States are still upcoming, while Katsina State is hopefully going to be the next one, but there are states where there’s virtually no progress at all, that’s why every time, we need to review the situation from time to time and find a way to encourage the states.
“We have given every support and we will continue to provide that support, but we need that political level, the highest level in the States, for the country to have a lot of traction.”
The minister also made it clear that Nigerians should own the ODF Campaign and not leave it to the Federal and State governments alone because they are the direct beneficiaries of such Water, Sanitation and Hygiene programmes.
However, data from the WASH National Outcome Routine Mapping (WASH NORM), World Health Organisation/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation, while stressing why it matters to end open defecation, said based on empirical study, every naira invested in the water and sanitation sector results in economic benefit ranging from N1,080 to N12,240 ($3 to $34). It said the gains come through savings in healthcare costs, increased productivity, and entrepreneurial opportunities for the sanitation market.
Meanwhile, Nigeria’s economic loss of open defecation in Nigeria ranges from about 1.3 per cent (N455 billion) of GDP annually due to poor sanitation as a result of illness, low productivity, loss of learning opportunities, etc.
The health impact of open defecation is also enormous as the statistic shows that more than 100,000 children under five years of age die each year due to diarrhoea; of which 90 percent is directly attributable to unsafe water and sanitation. Nigeria is the second country with the highest children’s deaths due to diarrhoea.
“Open defecation also has a negative impact on child development as one in four children under five years of age exhibit severe stunting, while 1 in 10 are wasted, due to frequent episodes of diarrhoea and other Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) related illnesses.
“Frequent episodes of WASH-related diseases cause absence from school or work, as affected people take time off to heal, and some to take care of a sick relative also leads to low productivity,” the report said.
On education outcomes of open defecation, the statistic shows, “reduced school enrolment and attendance due to time lost in the search for water and frequent episodes of WASH-related illnesses.”
“Open defecation results in loss of dignity, increased risks of insecurity and violence against women and children which in turn lead to loss of dignity and security,” the report said.
According to World Health Organisation (WHO) some 827 000 people in low and middle-income countries die as a result of inadequate water, sanitation, and hygiene each year, representing 60 per cent of total diarrhoea deaths. Poor sanitation is believed to be the main cause in 432 000 of these deaths.
It noted that diarrhoea remains a major killer but is largely preventable. Adding that better water, sanitation, and hygiene could prevent the deaths of 297,000 children aged under five years each year.
The world health body said open defecation perpetuates a vicious cycle of disease and poverty.
“The countries where open defection is most widespread have the highest number of deaths of children aged under 5 years as well as the highest levels of malnutrition and poverty, and big disparities of wealth,” it said.
Some of the benefits of improving sanitation according to WHO include reducing the spread of intestinal worms, schistosomiasis, and trachoma, which are neglected tropical diseases that cause suffering for millions.
“Reducing the severity and impact of malnutrition; promoting dignity and boosting safety, particularly among women and girls; promoting school attendance: girls’ school attendance is particularly boosted by the provision of separate sanitary facilities; and potential recovery of water, renewable energy and nutrients from faecal waste,” it said.
The current estimates indicate that around 673 million people practice open defecation. This is down from about 892 million people, or 12 per cent of the global population, who practiced open defecation in 2016. In that year, 76 per cent, or 678 million of the 892 million people practising open defecation in the world lived in just seven countries. Nigeria is one of them.
Experts assert that open defecation is one of the indicators being used to measure progress toward the Sustainable Development Goal Number 6. Extreme poverty and lack of sanitation are statistically linked. Therefore, eliminating open defecation is thought to be an important part of the effort to eliminate poverty.
As part of efforts to achieve this, the Federal Ministry of Water Resources, as the government agency spearheading this effort and working with international agencies like UNICEF, has developed a road map for making Nigeria open defecation-free within that period. The campaign is already on to wipe out the ugly record which holds that around 46 million people in Nigeria, as at 2015, defecate in the open. Another 56 million people are estimated to be added during the next 10 years. This means a total of 102 million people or 20 million households should have access to a toilet and use it.
