This is not the first time that global bodies and concerned stakeholders would task the federal government on taking drastic action against open defaecation. ELEOJO IDACHABA takes a look at another call, just as the target year of 2025 to eradicate the menace is around the corner.
The menace of open defaecation is a major concern in almost every city in Nigeria. More worrisome is the fact that this is done on water lines and in close proximity to human residences. As a result of this, many children and adults have been at the risk of waterborne diseases like cholera and diarrhoea. The government had four years ago promised to do everything possible to end this menace by 2025, but it seems not much has been done to realise this. Now that the rainy season is at its peak, once more, there are intensified calls on the government to expedite action on the 2025 target date.
Again, the latest call is by the United Nations Children and Emergency Fund (UNICEF) which recently charged governments at the federal and state levels to take the eradication of open defaecation as a priority if the 2025 target still remains a priority. The head of UNICEF office Enugu, Mr. Timi Kiakubu, gave the charge in Calabar last week during a training workshop for monitoring and evaluation officers, coordinators of WASH departments in local government areas as well as UNICEF desk officers.
The workshop, Blueprint Weekend gathered, was to train participants on progress reporting in line with global best standards. The training was also to afford them the opportunity to learn ways of managing data involving collecting, analysing and reporting data on water supply and sanitation in three pilot states of Benue, Enugu and Cross River.
While harping on the need to prioritise sanitation, especially in the area of open defaecation, Diakubu said, “Nigeria has a plan to eradicate open defecation by 2025. If one checks closely the Water Sanitation and Hygiene National Outcome Routine Mapping Survey (WASH-NORMS) of the federal government, one would see that while some states are making progress, others are far behind.
“Open defecation opens up a channel for WASH-related diseases/infection with attendant loss of financial resources in hospitals and even death. It is one of the leading causes of death of children under the age of five.
“My concern is on whether Nigeria would be able to meet the 2025 target. For you to achieve the target you need to measure progress and for us to achieve the target of 2025, we need to prioritise.”
Follow-up slips
Investigations by this reporter showed that the problem the federal government has with a policy document such as eradicating open defaecation is that there is usually no follow-up. And this is not the first time that Nigeria has indicated an intention towards eradicating the menace. In 2019, a series of activities from engagement with journalists, to advocating clean toilets for all, commemorated that year’s World Toilet Day flagged off. The theme for that year was ‘Leaving No One Behind,’ in line with global efforts towards achieving universal access to sanitation.
Speaking at a press conference in Abuja, then minister of environment, Muhammad Mahmood, said the federal government was committed to addressing the sanitation challenges, including open defecation in the country and ensuring proper management of excreta.
“This commitment is in line with the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria’s declaration of a state of emergency on water, sanitation and hygiene in the country in November 2018,” he had said.
Three years later, there is nothing on ground to show that the minister meant what he said, nor has his successor initiated moves towards achieving the goal.
In Nigeria, it is believed that an estimated 47 million people do not use toilets thereby causing nearly 87,000 diarrhoeal deaths in children under the age of five. Furthermore, reports indicate that poor sanitation contributes to several other neglected tropical diseases (NTD) and under-nutrition.
President Muhammadu Buhari in that year signed Executive Order 009 to tackle open defaecation. In the same year, the Ministry of Water Resources in collaboration with UNICEF and some other key agencies, launched the initiative tagged ‘Nigeria Open-Defaecation-Free by 2025.
In October 2019, reports however showed that Nigeria became the number one open defecation nation globally ahead of India. Then, it was estimated that 50 million Nigerians (approximately 10 million households) defaecate in the open. India has a population of 1.353 billion people and 3.287 million km2 land area, against Nigeria’s 200 million people and 923,769km2 land area.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), “Now that Nigeria is where India used to be on this index, it needs to do similar things, but even more seriously.”
The phenomenon of open defaecation does not just occur in the rural areas of Nigeria but also in cities and among the educated class in public tertiary institutions, business and residential areas because of the absence of public/clean toilets. This is why over 47 million Nigerians defecate openly in bushes, gutters, sidewalks, motor parks, recreation parks, rivers and streets, among other places.
Needless confusion/arguments
Disturbed by the development, in late 2021, lawmakers and critical stakeholders disagreed over the decision of the former to establish an agency to be known as Clean Nigeria Agency. This was during a public hearing in the Senate.
The stakeholders which included some cabinet members vehemently rejected the bill that intended to establish the agency, but the lawmakers insisted that there was a need for the agency to be created.
In his presentation, Senator Ordia made reference to the Executive Order 009 issued by President Buhari as the motivation for the conceptualisation of the bill, arguing that the motivation was derived from extant reports on the menace of the practice of open defecation. “It was reported, for instance, that Nigeria is the leading nation in the world with the highest number of people practising open urination and defecation, estimated at over 46 million people and which has made it practically impossible for the country to meet the SDG 6 by 2025.
“Also, apart from the stench that emanates from open urination and defecation sites, it also provides a breeding ground for disease- causing-organisms that has resulted in huge economic losses to the country.”
However, in her presentation, the minister of finance, budget and national planning, Zainab Ahmed, said there existed agencies of the government whose functions and mandate the bill would infringe upon.
“The Water Resources Act, Water Use and License Regulation, Federal Environmental Protection Agency Act and some other Acts of the National Assembly are some of the laws the functions of this bill would infringe upon.
“The Ministry of Water Resources is backed to regulate how water resources are utilised. It is of the ministry’s opinion that the mandate of this bill should be domiciled in the Ministry of Water Resources and the department it would be domiciled should ensure that it liaises with states and local government agencies under the ministry to ensure that this particular issue is tackled.”
Mrs. Helen Obayagbo, who represented the environment ministry, agreed with the finance minister that the Clean Nigeria Campaign was a programme based on the content of the Executive Order 009 which she said cannot be converted into an agency of the federal government.
In his presentation, the Society for Water and Sanitation national coordinator, Benson Attah, said the agency would clash with already existing agencies, but suggested that rather than have duplication of agencies, state governors should strengthen their commitment to the water sector in their states and release funding for local governments to function better.
In their reactions, the lawmakers, while disagreeing with the views of the stakeholders, wondered why the country was yet to achieve open defecation- free target.
On his part, the chairman of the committee, Senator Bello Mandiya, said, “You mentioned that there are so many agencies, yet Nigeria has the highest number of people practicing open defecation. Where are all these agencies? Why are they not performing their functions? We have 774 local governments but only 72 have been declared open defecation free. So, why are the agencies not doing what they are supposed to do?”
Mere pledges
President Buhari and his deputy, Yemi Osibanjo, in 2021 re-affirmed their commitments to ending the embarrassing menace by 2025 when they signed the pledge cards.
This reporter gathered that the pledge card was an open commitment against the menace in the country. The expectation is that the government would have taken further steps to match actions with words as far as eradication of open defecation in Nigeria is concerned rather than pledges that have never resulted in any tangible result.
