In Nigeria, open defecation continues to be a major problem. Despite efforts made by governments and non-governmental organisations, or NGOs, this continues.
The Nigerian Institution of Environmental Engineers (NIEE), at a recent event, also expressed concern over the continued practise of open defecation in the nation.
The group demanded that the Federal Government install portable restrooms in markets during the event, a memorial lecture held by the organisation in Lagos in memory of Chief Samuel Fadahunsi.
Because the WASH sector lacked the infrastructure to handle open defecation, Odukoya Moses, the national chairman of NIEE, bemoaned the fact that no state had 20% of modern toilet facilities in place.
The NIEE’s call supported WASH-NORM’s estimate from the previous year that roughly 48 million Nigerians still defecate in the open.
The research, which was published in June of last year, once again highlighted the risks posed by the practise in Nigeria, particularly in Lagos State, where it is quickly becoming the standard.
About 48 million Nigerians still practise open defecation, according to the WASH-NORM, an annual national assessment of the status of water, sanitation, and hygiene services, in its 2021 Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene National Outcome Routine Mapping (WASH-NORM) III Report.
The practise of open defecation has persisted uninterrupted, despite former President Muhammadu Buhari’s Executive Order 009, which was titled “The Open Defecation-Free Nigeria by 2025 and Other Related Matters Order.”
The executive order, whose main goal was to ensure that Nigeria was devoid of open defecation by 2025, was necessary in light of the WASNORM research, which found that approximately 48 million Nigerians engaged in the unhealthy practise, ranking Nigeria second in the world.
Like locusts, miscreants, deviants, as well as stranded and homeless individuals, have encroached on the nation’s largest cities, particularly Lagos, defecating and urinating indiscriminately on canals, waterways, train lines, and main roads.
Numerous environmental health risks have been presented to communities as a result of the construction. This is now the fate of many Nigerian cities, including the excellence centre of Lagos State.
The first time
In the past, it was usual to see people urinating on the side of or at the corner of busy roads like motorways or highways, as well as occasionally in the gutter along the side of the road. Along the sides of the highways and motorways, it was also usual to observe individuals urinating.
But no matter how sparse the grass or shrubs were, they would always attempt to conceal themselves while doing that. They also ensured that they did so at least 50 metres from the major route.
That was then; the narrative has evolved since then. People now urinate and defecate in public on the streets without showing the slightest sign of shame or embarrassment. Instead, onlookers quickly turn away from such repulsive views and walk away from the situation.
With faecal waste littering the trains and main roadways, especially those still under construction, Lagos has come under intense attack from individuals who practise open defecation today, as they have in many other cities. The waterways are not spared, and people engaging in the act come from all socioeconomic backgrounds and occupations. This disgusting and infamous practise is slowly turning the centre of excellence into a good location for open defecation, with all of the associated health risks.
A source of these peculiarities is the brand-new, 10-lane Lagos-Seme motorway, which is presently under construction. Able-bodied young males can frequently be observed urinating on the newly constructed road from Mile 2 all the way down to Agboju, especially in the morning and evening.
Men are the primary offenders, despite both sexes being involved. They litter and deface the roadway with human waste and urine, generating a foul scent that can harm people’s sense of smell and cause health issues.
One wonders if individuals participating in this ignoble conduct are in good mental health given the daring and flair they demonstrated. They frequently puff freely on cigarette sticks as they defecate in groups of three, four, or even five.
Another group of folks favours moving their bowl around the banks of rivers or lagoons.
If forced, they would always proceed to the lagoon’s bank and urinate in the water. They are just as brave and proud to do that as others who perform their duties while driving. They occasionally do it in groups of two or three while smoking cigarettes or marijuana, just like their colleagues on the roads.
The two groups share the extraordinary bravery they muster to stare menacingly into the eyes of onlookers, who are frequently obliged to look away and quicken their pace in order to flee the area.
According to research by the DAILY POST, the bulk of persons who engage in the conduct have issues with accommodations. They are either individuals who sleep inside some decrepit abandoned automobiles, which are commonplace in cities like Lagos, or those that live under bridges, in garages, in makeshift stores, or both.
Equally noteworthy, it was discovered that players include those who reside in homes without toilets. The majority of the time, they are the ones who defecate into black nylon bags before carefully depositing them in the middle of the road.
A roadside auto mechanic in Lagos who went by the name of Buraimoh John commented on the incident and said that the government should be held entirely responsible for failing to provide for its people.
Because the majority of those who engage in the conduct cannot even afford such pitiful sums, Mr. John claimed that offering public restrooms and charging people between N20 and N50 to urinate is wrong.
Because they can always urinate in the gutter or by the side of the road without being harassed or arrested, he contended, some people are too poor to spend N20 just to urinate. Instead, they would rather use the money to meet other urgent needs.
This city is a great location, he declared. Many things take place. Some owners of “face me-I-face you” homes fail to provide renters with restrooms. Where do you anticipate these tenants going to the toilet?
“The response is clear. Wherever it is convenient for them, they will do it. Aside from these individuals, there are hundreds of thousands of homeless people in cities like Lagos. Some of them are unable to even locate a place to rest their heads. So they sleep on the sides of the road and in garages.
“For instance, many Lagosians live beside the 10-lane motorway connecting Lagos with Badagry and Seme, which is presently under construction. If you don’t visit the area until after 10:00 or 11:00 p.m., you might not be aware of this, but you’ll be shocked at how many people are sleeping on the road there, risking their lives to do so.
I hold the government responsible for all of these. One of the three fundamental needs of man is shelter, which is something that the government should be able to provide for. For a man, shelter comes in third after food and clothing.
“A responsible government ought to be able to offer that to its people. In cases where this is not possible, public restrooms should be made available for use by the public at no charge in every area of a major metropolis like Lagos.
However, this is not the case here. The few available public restrooms are not even well kept, and they ask a hefty fee just to urinate. That is the height of wickedness, which explains why so many individuals turn to destroying the environment. Please encourage the government to take responsibility for its actions.
The activity is a potential health threat, according to Mrs. Chinyere Anokwuru, President and Founder of SelfWorth Organisation for Women Development.
I don’t think it’s right, to be honest,” she admitted. It is by no means good. Actually, it is a health risk that is just waiting to go off. It shouldn’t be promoted.
She believes that the majority of persons responsible for such crimes are the homeless Lagosians who sleep in garages or under bridges.
“In my opinion, the majority of those involved are homeless individuals who sleep beneath bridges in Lagos. They shouldn’t be inspired, she argued.
She believes that the government must play a major role in helping people get out of this condition.
“I believe the government should increase the number of portable restrooms available on public roadways. Mobile restrooms that require a token to use them can be provided by local, state, and even local communities near the places where these instances take place.
“When such provisions are made, the people involved will also understand that it is better than doing their stuff on the road; I don’t think it is nice,” she insisted.
She urged for everyone to pitch in to discourage such behaviours, expressing concerns about how vulnerable children would be in such a setting with the associated danger of catching one infection or another.
“Children in these sites run the risk of stepping in animal waste by accident, which creates a new issue.
“In my opinion, neighbours in such regions ought to share warnings and be courageous enough to tell those who are engaging in the practise that it is wrong. They ought to be made uncomfortable with doing that on the road. It is not at all a beautiful sight to see. Even worse, I don’t even like the concept.
She said, “Whoever is doing it should stop; they should desist because it might very easily spark an epidemic in such places.
actors’ psychology
Dr. Leonard Okonkwo, a consultant psychologist at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital in Ikeja, said that such behaviours may not always indicate a psychological issue with the person in question.
He linked it to the bandwagon effect, which finds strong support because society doesn’t express a clear condemnation of it.
He remarked, dispelling any kind of belief that such behaviour was related to the mental health of those involved: “Abnormality has nothing to do with deviant behaviour. You claim that behaviour is abnormal when it is deemed as deviant by society.
“However, you discover that those who commit these crimes do so mostly because they witness others committing them while receiving no punishment. Consequently, they believe such manner of life is normal.
Additionally, he said that the environment in which such behaviour occurs has a significant impact on whether those who engage in it can be categorised as normal or abnormal.
“Where they do it impacts how they are feeling mentally. Does it take place in Victoria Island (VI), Ajegunle, or Oshodi? If you see someone doing it in VI, you should start asking them some questions because there is a highly improbable location for such behaviour, the speaker stated.
He continues, reinforcing the role of the bandwagon effect in the situation, by stating that “sometimes you could find people that do this thing since it is not really perceived as abnormal since others are doing it. Because others are doing it without being penalised, many others will comply if forced to.
In addition, when he said: “Again, when there are no alternatives, people just use what is available, he did not ignore the role of need as the mother of invention. People must just carry out their necessary actions if no other options are provided or they are under pressure.
I’m still attempting to make the case that those acting in this way are probably not acting out of the ordinary because most people in society will do certain things, especially when they have no other option.
He criticised the government for failing to implement the current laws that are in place to prohibit these actions, stating, “Even if there are laws against some of these behaviours, how much of it has been enforced?
“Even if it were enforced, how much exposure would that have? You may have read a few tales about people receiving five-month prison terms for urinating in public. So, people simply accept it as normal.
What is our society’s literacy rate, furthermore? Since the majority of individuals in the society are still illiterate, they are unaware of the events taking place all around them. As a result, they are more likely to follow suit if they observe others doing it.
When asked if the same conditions that apply to those who urinate outside the water also apply to those who do it inside, he responded, “I know it is something that is used to be done a lot in the village where people’s level of awareness is really low.
They go to the downstream side of a stream where the water is flowing if they wish to do it inside a village stream since they are aware of the impact it will have on them. They move downstream because it won’t impact them there, for that reason. So, the majority of the time, individuals simply perceive it as common practise because they observe a large number of others doing it in that setting.
Overall, it should be strongly discouraged. I’m only referring to whether the folks who are doing these things are normal or abnormal. Most of the time, it’s not that they are abnormal; rather, it’s just that society tolerates it in some contexts, and once it’s done, it’s no longer seen to be a deviant activity.
“Therefore, you can’t label it abnormal because it happens to people who are obviously normal in certain conditions. I’ve also provided instances in which you could characterise these individuals as abnormal. For instance, you would know someone was weird if they abruptly jumped out of a bus on Allen Avenue, in VGC, or in VI and started urinating on the side of the road.
implications for health
Dr. Nneka Ossai, a medical professional, gave insight into the health implications of such an act. She described it as unhealthy because it creates major health difficulties, especially to the nearby population.
“It has health implications because there are many bacteria in faeces, and if anyone unintentionally comes into contact with it and then touches the food or any other edible thing being consumed by such a person, he or she could be infected with one or more diseases,” she said.
Speaking about the air people breathe, she added that this activity pollutes the air, creating yet another significant health risk for people.
Additionally, it contaminates the air we breathe, she added. People who work in close proximity to these locations run the risk of ingesting bacteria through the oxygen they breathe, which might be highly damaging.
They are exposed to several types of bacterial diseases by breathing such contaminated air.
