- Attracts N5000 fine
By Angela Onwuzoo
A visit to Bodija and Sango-Ojurin markets, both in Ibadan North Local Government Area of Oyo State, shows that if every Nigerian irrespective of location remains committed to maintaining a clean and healthy environment at all times, the practice of open defecation in the country, which has reached an alarming proportion, will soon be a thing of the past.
In these two markets, sanitation is everybody’s business and open defecation is a crime punishable by monetary fine on any trader found indulging in the act.
The monetary fine ranges from N2000- N5000. In some occasions, the offender is also asked to do a community service, such as cleaning the market and the toilets for a period of three months for defecating in the open.
In Bodija and Sango-Ojurin markets, only one method of defecation is allowed- use of the toilet.
The leaders of the markets stated that the imposition of a fine on anybody found defecating openly was to ensure that their resolve to totally end open defecation was not compromised.
Unlike in some markets in other parts of the country where traders practice open defecation through all kinds of means, the leaders of these south-west markets, took ownership of the sanitation and ensured that every trader had access to safe toilet at all times, at the rate of N50 per usage.
The market leaders said the traders had embraced the habit of using the toilet and have been paying after usage since three years that the toilets were built through a public-private partnership arrangement.
Before now, according to some of the traders, there were no toilets in those markets while the only laterine provided for them by the government became a death trap when it began to sink, forcing them to abandon it and practiced open defecation before the market leaders intervened and proffered a solution.
But how did Bodija and Sango-Ojurin markets become open defecation free?
Iyaloja of Sango-Ojurin market, Alhaja Momotu Rafiu, told journalists during a visit to the market, oragnised by UNICEF in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Information with support from the European Union and UKaid, that they were not ready to die from diseases that they could prevent by a change of attitude.
The visit which was part of a two-day Media Dialogue on Sanitation in the state, was part of activities to promote the ‘Clean Nigeria: Use the toilet’ campaign.
The Iyaloja said the leadership of the market decided to take a drastic measure for their own good and to avert some of the health challenges associated with open defecation, particularly diarrhoea and cholera.
She explained: “Executive members of the market association took it upon themselves and devised a means of ending open defecation here.
So, what we did was that after calling on the government to assist us with toilets and every effort proved abortive, we then provided land for a private individual who was interested in building five units of squatting pan toilets for us, on the condition that we will be paying N50 per usage and we said no problem.”
She continued: “So, we went back to all the traders and told them about the importance of having access to safe toilets with water in the market and they all agreed, saying paying N50 for shit cannot be compared to paying thousands of Naira for treating diseases and infections caused by open defecation.
“And we have borehole here constructed alongside the toilets. So water is not a problem. Since three years that these five units toilets were built, our people have heaved a sigh of relief.
Before we had these toilets built, faeces was a common sight in this market and the stench alone was killing and capable of sending potential buyers away. Thank God today, the story has changed.”
According to UNICEF, no fewer than 47million (24.4 per cent) Nigerians are practising open defecation, a situation stakeholders say demands urgent attention.
Statistics from the country’s 2018 WASH NORM report, show that out of the 47 million Nigerians practicing open defecation, 16 million of them live in the North Central part of the country.
The report also showed that one out of four Nigerians defecates in the open with 32 million not having access to improved toilets.
Hence, the need for community participation and private sector involvement if Nigeria is to achieve the 2025 target of becoming open defecation free.
The Iyaloja also spoke on compliance and what the leaders of
Sango-Ojurin market are doing to keep the toilets clean at all times.
“The executive constituted a committee to that effect.
We ensure that every trader pays when he or she uses the toilet as agreed. We are very strict about it.
We conduct checks of the surrounding to ensure that no one contravened the order against open defecation.
“So far, we have not caught anybody because we are strict about it. So, there has been maximum corporation from the traders over the years.”
A textile seller at the market, Mrs Nike Gabriel, said she was happy paying the N50 than to contract infection from the old latrine.
The practice of open defecation has been implicated in many cases of cholera, diarrhoea, hepatitis, polio and typhoid fever, among other diseases in the country.
The story is also the same with Bodija market.
A meat seller at the market, Mr Taye Abiodun said: “In the past, we used to defecate openly due to ignorance and lack of access to toilets, but now, things have changed since some people came and built toilet for us and we started paying N50 to use them. We are happy paying N50 for using the toilets because before, apart from polluting the environment , the faeces most times attracts a lot of flies to our shops.”
Director, Environmental Health Office, Bodija Market, Mrs Bukola Bello, told journalists during the visit that the toilets were privately owned and that they have 70 percent compliance by the traders.
“They pay N50 to defecate and N20 to urinate. We also have fines for offenders. With this measure, we have been able to improve our sanitation. It is better to pay N50 on toilet than N5,000 on diarrhoea. Prevention as we all know, is better than cure.
Experts say over 88 per cent of diarrhoea in children, the fastest killer of children under the age of five in Nigeria, was caused by open defecation.
Open defecation is defined by UNICEF as the practice of people going out “in fields, bushes, forests, open bodies of water or other open spaces, rather than using the toilet to defecate.
Speaking during the media dialogue, UNICEF’s Water and Sanitation, WASH, Specialist, Mr. Bioye Ogunjobi, said Nigeria now ranks 2nd in open defecation in the world and first in Africa among countries with the highest number of people defecating in the open.
Ogunjobi revealed that only 13 local government areas from four states-Bauchi, Benue, Cross River and Jigawa were open defecation free.
According to him, North Central states lead in open defecation with 53.9 per cent, followed by South West with 28.0 per cent, South East 22.4 per cent, South-South 17.9 per cent and North East 10.3 per cent.
Listing the way forward, he said: “We have to mobilise the entire country otherwise the 2025 target will not be possible.”
He said increased and well targeted WASH funding at all levels especially for rural areas would help improve sanitation as well as improve the country’s chances of attaining the 2025 target.
The Clean Nigeria: Use the Toilet campaign, according to the Federal Ministry of Information, is one of the most ambitious behaviour-change campaigns in Nigeria. The campaign to end open defecation is a key initiative that will reach many unserved populations, the ministry
said.
Lamenting that the practice of open defecation calls for concern in Nigeria, a medical personnel, Mr Daniel Nnaemeke, said government could change the story of open defecation practice in Nigeria by ensuring sustained awareness creation across the country especially in rural areas and urban slums.
Nnaemeka is also asking the government to address factors fuelling the unpleasant practice such as poverty and lack of access to toilet facilities.
“It is important that communities are properly informed to realise the negative impact of open defecation on health and well-being. While government on its part should try and make toilet facilities available and free”, he said.
The stakeholders urged the government to make concerted effort in partnership with the private sector to provide toilets in public places so that people will not have recourse to relieving themselves in the
open.
“Town planners and other government agencies in charge of the environment have to ensure that toilets are not just an after thought when putting up a structure. Water and sanitation are essential elements in containing the unbridled practice of open defecation”, they
said.
