Dealing with open defecation in Nigeria

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ISN’T it just shocking that 47 million Nigerians are practising open defecation? According to the 2018 Water, Sanitation and Hygiene National Outcome Routine Mapping (WASH NORM) Survey, at least 24 per cent of Nigeria’s population, about 47 million people, are practising open defecation. Also, Nigeria is ranked second among countries practising open defecation globally, second only to India. It is appalling and requires pragmatic actions to curtail this menace.

In layman’s terms, open defecation is the act of defecating outside rather than in a toilet. Of course, there are too many risks associated with this awful practice. Open defecation has serious economic, social and health effects on the people. An expert in Water, Sanitation and Hygiene with the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF), says Nigeria loses about 1.3 per cent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) amounting to N455 billion annually due to poor sanitation and that a third of that cost is as a result of the practice of open defecation. He said more than 100,000 children less than five years of age die each year due to diarrhea; 90 per cent of which is directly attributed to unsafe water and sanitation. Open defecation is contaminating our water and polluting our environment.

Nigerians must not ignore warnings; they must desist from the practice of open defecation. They must cultivate the habit of using toilets. My recent visit to Jadawa-Fulani and Yammawar-Kafawa communities in Dambatta Local Government Area of Kano State showed a clear distinction between a community where they indulge in open defecation and a community that has stopped the practice. While Jadawa-Fulani is grappling with consequences of open defecation, Yammawar-Kafawa continues to enjoy its liberation from the scourge of open defecation.

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Across the country, there are few open defecation Free communities but it is just a drop in the ocean considering the fact that 47 million people in the country still do open defecation. According to UNICEF, out of the 774 local government areas in Nigeria, only 13 of them in just four states have attained open defecation free status and these are two in Bauchi State, one in Benue State, four in Jigawa State and six in Cross River state. I am excited to hear that Ifedayo Local Government Area of Osun State is also close to attaining ODF status.

No state in Nigeria is insulated from the scourge of open defecation at the moment and governors of all the 36 states and the Federal Government must treat the issue of open defecation with seriousness. It is said that the nation needs two million toilets per year between 2019 and 2025 to get the 47 million Nigerians to use toilet and stop open defecation.

While commending President Muhamadu Buhari for declaring a state of emergency in the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) sector in November last year as well as the inauguration of the national campaign to make Nigeria a open defecation free (ODF) nation by 2025, it is necessary for the entire people of Nigeria to unite in the campaign and efforts to end open defecation in the country before 2025.

The time starts now for all Nigerians to begin to use toilets so that the country would achieve Universal Basic Sanitation.