23rd November, 2019
Tayo Ogunbiyi
Open defecation has been a common practice in many nations, towns and villages for centuries. It is a practice whereby a person defecates in an open area not meant for that purpose unmindful that it’s unhealthy and unhygienic.
Out of about one billion people that still practice open defecation worldwide, about 49 million are Nigerians while 600 million reside in India. It is, however, estimated that around 68 million Nigerians are likely to be added between now and 2025, if concerted efforts were not made to arrest the problem.
Open defecation is fundamental aspect of sanitation, and it reflects the level of development in any society where it is rampant. It is a bad practice with grievous implications on human health, dignity and security, the environment and social- economic development.
The profoundly damaging health and developmental consequences of this menace has often been overshadowed by other aspect of our socio-economic life that is also in decay.
According to the World Health Organisation, WHO, 2.5 billion of the world’s seven billion people do not have proper sanitation while 1.1 billion people still defecate in the open, a ratio of one in ten persons.
Basic sanitation, which has been a concern from the earliest stages of human settlements, is described as having access to facilities for the safe disposal of human waste (faeces and urine) as well as having the ability to maintain hygienic conditions are critical to health, survival, and development.
Therefore, it is not surprising that many countries and cities, and in particular those with high population are challenged in providing adequate sanitation for their entire populations because the growth rate has overburdened the existing urban management system.
This puts many people at risk of water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH)-related diseases. Serious waterborne diseases such as cholera and diarrhoea occur when open defecation or poor sanitation permits human waste to pollute water supplies.
According to a 2016 statistics by WASH watch, diarrhoea caused by poor sanitation and unsafe water kills 315,000 children every year.
Similarly, a 2003 International Labour Organisation (ILO) data reveals that disease transmission at work mostly caused by poor sanitation and hygiene practices causes 17% of all workplace deaths, while loss of productivity due to illnesses caused by lack of sanitation and poor hygiene practices is estimated to cost many countries up to 5% of Gross Domestic Products (GDP).
Also, the WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation posited that at least 1.8 billion people worldwide are estimated to drink water that is contaminated through poor sanitary habit. An even greater number of drink water which is delivered through a system without adequate protection against sanitary hazards.
Furthermore, studies have shown that the countries where open defecation is most widely practised are the same countries with the highest mortality rate of children under five, high levels of undernutrition and poverty, and large wealth disparities.
A 2012 World Bank report reveals that Nigeria loses NGN 455 billion annually due to poor sanitation. This is 1.3 per cent of the national GDP. It should also be understood that an individual produces 200 gram of shit every day.
One can imagine the volume of shit that goes into the river and those that end up on our source of water and food when there is a flood. Worryingly, according to WHO, one gram faeces of an infected person can have up to 10,000,000 viruses, 1,000,000 bacteria and 1000 parasite cyst and 100 parasite eggs.
Hygienic lifestyle helps in creating a strong economy, as well as improving health and protecting people’s safety and dignity, particularly women’s and girls’.
Therefore, aside from the health risks inherent in the lack of proper human waste disposal, it also has significant impacts on dignity and security, the environment, and social and economic development.
In many Nigerian cities, it is common to see people defecate openly along the road, especially at nights. Walking along the railroad tracks even gives one more panoramic view of things as people – male and female engage in mass open defecation.
On the streets, behind bushes, in groves of trees, in rivers or streams, inside gutters, dumpsites, in motor parks, markets and what have you, people use faeces to litter the environment with impunity. Even some of the fanciest areas are not exempted. In many parts of the country, communities located near the rail track or canals are the guiltiest of open defecation.
In a bid to raise awareness of sanitation issues and sewerage and make a case for sanitation for all that the World Toilet Day is celebrated on 19th November of every year. The day is intended to encourage UN Member States and relevant stakeholders, including civil society and non-governmental organizations, to promote behavioural change and the implementation of policies in order to increase access to sanitation among the poor and end the practice of open defecation.
The theme for this year’s edition “Leaving No One Behind” is aimed at sending signals out on the need for proper handling of vital sanitation issues, as this would help in reducing the outbreak of diseases. It needs to be stressed that people cannot live a truly productive and fulfilled life if they persist in living in an unsanitary environment.
Now, can Nigeria become free from open defecation by 2025? It is not impossible. All that is required is for us to have a functional system that will trigger the process. It involves the active participation of the corporate organization and ingenuity on the part of citizens, especially the unemployed and underemployed youth.
Consequently, employers of labour and owners of businesses should endeavour to provide good toilets for their employers, not leaving out motor parks and markets.
Priority attention should also be accorded the provision of good and hygienic restrooms for travellers and customers respectively. This would contribute to healthy living in the society.
Government at all levels, as well as all major stakeholders, should not relent in carrying out public enlightenment activities to promote attitudinal change towards eradicating open defecation and other such unhygienic habits.
The citizens too should handle issues of the environment with zest because the environment is the superstructure on which the survival of other sectors rests. It is whatever we throw at the environment that it throws back at us.
Ogunbiyi is of the Lagos State Ministry of Information & Strategy, Alausa, Ikeja