Declare state of emergency in Nigeria’s WASH sector!

The statistics are staggering! About 116 million out of approximately 200 million Nigerian citizens do not have access to decent toilet facilities and this has led to 38.8 million of them indulging in open defecation. Some 50 per cent of all schools in Nigeria do not have basic water supply and sanitation facilities while 50 per cent of health care facilities lack clean water and 88 per cent of them lack basic sanitation. And, nearly 60,000 children die before they start school from diseases caused by poor levels of access to WASH.

The above revelations were made by the acting Country Director of WaterAid Nigeria, Evelyn Mere, at the launch of the ‘Keep Your Promises Campaign in Abuja last Thursday, July 25, 2019. According to Mere, the time has come for the media to begin to inform the citizens to ask duty bearers what their individual stands are on issues like water, sanitation and hygiene.

Recall that ahead the 2019 elections, WaterAid Nigeria launched the “VOTE4WASH” campaign with 120 signed pledge cards from candidates and politicians including the Governor of Bauchi State, Bala Mohammed and a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara.  Mere claimed that, “Experience has shown us that many campaign promises in the past have been largely unfulfilled, unmet and without clear and convincing plans for actualising them,” hence the motivation to launch the “Keep Your Promises Campaign”.

The goal of the WaterAid intervention is to empower citizens to use the media and other accountability platforms to follow up with elected officials to demand transparent and accountable governance, including increased budget allocation for WASH services as well as to effectively utilise appropriated funds”.

I sincerely laud the intervention of this organisation. For me, a state of emergency should be declared on the deplorable situation in Nigeria’s Water, Sanitation and Hygiene sector. We cannot have a healthy nation if we still treat the critical issue of WASH with nonchalance. It is the lackadaisical attitude we have to this vital sector that is making us to experience outbreaks of communicable diseases such as cholera, tuberculosis, influenza, malaria, coughs, measles, including HIV/AIDS. This is so because it is commonplace for people to cough without covering their mouth or for health practitioners to use unsterilised needles, blades and other sharp objects for multiple persons. This is how some of these diseases are sometimes transmitted unwittingly. Imagine the billions of naira we have been spending on the Roll Back Malaria programme over the years. Yet, thousands of Nigerians are still dying of the preventable disease simply because we fail to adhere strictly to environmental sanitation and hygiene.

In my own estimation, WASH is a form of preventive medicine. It’s about public health. Any family, community, or country that prioritises water, sanitation and hygiene would be healthy. This is because fewer members of that family or society will fall sick from some of the aforementioned communicable diseases. When I was in primary and secondary schools, our teachers routinely inspected our fingernails to check if they were well cut and tidy. Our school uniforms must also be neat and well-ironed, failure of which attracted punishment. I doubt if that is still a part of school culture any more.

It is very disheartening that many homes are still without toilet facilities even in urban centres. Potable water is a rarity in many communities as people go several miles in search of water for domestic use. There have been reported cases of people in many communities in Nigeria sharing stream water with animals. Pure water is supposed to be tasteless, odourless and colourless. Unfortunately, in many rural communities, their drinking water is brownish and with heavy taste.

Is it not heart-rending that open defecation is still a major problem in Nigeria? This cannot but be so as many of our public schools including health institutions do not either have toilet facilities or that they are in deplorable conditions hence when people could not access the conveniences, they resort to open defecation. Waste disposal system in Nigeria still leaves much to desire. Many people are still in the habit of throwing their solid wastes inside the drainage believing that they will be washed away. Even liquid wastes are majorly not being properly disposed. The same with industrial wastes.

Many refuse dumps are also found around residential apartments, which is a wrong practice. The stench from such dumpsites is inimical to human health. Likewise, when such dumps are set on fire, the smoke is equally harmful.  Many communities do not see anything wrong with their environment being overgrown with weeds and their drains blocked. What such communities choose to ignore or do not know is that these bushes and drainage around their homes are the breeding grounds for mosquitoes and even reptiles such as scorpions, lizards, wall geckos and the likes.

My advocacy is that we as a country have to start taking water, sanitation and hygiene seriously. There are many duty bearers that need to be held accountable. It starts with families. Parents need to set good examples for their children to emulate. Brushing of teeth and taking of bath on a daily basis should be mandatory in every home. Personal hygiene should be non-negotiable. Children must sweep their homes and surroundings on a daily basis and wash their dirty plates and clothes. House chores are part of home training.

There is the need for sensitisation across the country on the importance of public health. Local government Public Affairs Department in collaboration with Primary Health Centres owes it a duty to enlighten the public on the dangers of neglect of water, sanitation and hygiene. This is also part of the mandate of the National Orientation Agency as well as the media. The media need to take it as part of their corporate social responsibility. It is also imperative to enforce environmental sanitation laws. This is where we need to engage Environmental Health Officers or Sanitary Inspectors. These people should be incentivised to join in the sensitisation campaign and enforcement of environmental sanitation laws.

The biggest duty bearer is the government. I agree with WaterAid on the need to increase significantly the annual budget for WASH across the three tiers of government. That, in itself, will not solve the problem unless the communities oversee the disbursement of this budget to see that such funds are well-utilised and not diverted to private use. Town unions, Community Development Associations, school authorities, Parent Teacher Associations, alumni associations of tertiary institutions, motor park executives, traders unions, philanthropists and several other groups owe it a duty to assist governments in providing WASH facilities and services. This indeed is an emergency!