By Edoamaowo Udeme
A man performing Open Defecation. He works in a popular Ministry in Abuja, Nigeria, The ministry that harps on Child Rights, Value Reorientation and Healthy living but he daily wakes up from his rented 1-bedroom apartment, ignores his water cistern and walks a distance to defecate in a bush. According to him, he has lived in “One Man Village”, a suburb of Abuja, Nigeria for over 20 years and has never had his bowel emptied in his house.
“I can’t Imagine doing it at home, its best in the bushes, I used to do it when the whole environment here were bushes, now that it has been replaced with houses, I still look for a bush to defecate”. Curiously, he was asked if he. has ever stepped into an Open Defecation (OD), “Many times, I wash it off and move on, that is how people step into mine” Asked about the dangers of OD, “I have done that for over 20 years and nothing has happened to me, will it happen now”? In his 40s probably not more educated than an O’Level but slightly enlightened, He just got married and that has been the main fracas he has with his wife. His wife can’t fathom why a full grown man will leave a water cistern in his apartment to go to the bush to openly defecate. Question is, if he, who has lived in a “mini-town” does this, how can one be able to reorient those who are ill educated, ill exposed and are living in villages? This man is not alone, some people openly defecate because of an adequate toilet facility while some look for a nearby corner because of people refusing to allow them use their personal toilets, this, in most cases happens in town while villagers will be ever willing to allow you use their toilets.
In year 2000 after 189 World leaders met in New York, to jumpstart the Millennium Development Goals on how Developed Countries could carry the Developing Countries along. 8 goals were formed with the hope that by 2015, Developing countries would have halved their targets. In Nigeria, the goals were broken into 4 in what was known as the National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy. The 4 were, Poverty Reduction, Wealth Creation, Employment Generation and Value Reorientation. Of all the 4 Goals, Some experts argued that Value Reorientation seemed the best to achieve first as it could lead to achieving the rest. Organization like National Orientation Agency NOA was in top gear to engage Nigerians on reorienting their values. TV shows, adverts were keyed towards reorienting the minds of Nigerians but there was no such advert on the dangers on Open Defecation.
Like it was noted in the Calabar South Local Government of Cross River State, The Efut Atai Eta Mbutu, where Open Defecation is not only done in shrubs but inside the very river they drink from. There is no portable water except water from that same river. In that community, OD is not only the order of the day but almost a norm. It will only take the intervention of stakeholders to reorient the entire people. The biggest step the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has taken, is the advocacy of meeting the stakeholders, explaining the dangers of OD and soliciting for way forward. If the community is not fully involved during such advocacy visits, whatever project stationed there will be a complete waste of time, resources and energy. It was the community effort that led the people of Obanliku Local Government, one of the 6 Local Governments in Cross River State that is Open Defecation Free, to take action on some tourists who defecated in their bushes.
According to the Acting Program Manager Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency, Mr Eyo Offiong, “Some tourists on their way to Obudu Cattle Ranch were hard pressed and decided to use the nearby bushes to do Open Defecation. Villagers gathered around them and imposed a heavy fine on them but they couldn’t afford the fine, the penalty was that they packed the excreta from the bushes and take to their destination” Not a palatable story but it does send a message. The Obanliku people could only achieve this feat because with community efforts, they decided to be involved in ensuring an OD free environment. UNICEF is not left out in an effort to ensure that the Clean Nigeria; Use Toilet Campaign sees its fruition. UNICEF has reported that 47 million Nigerians defecate in the open while 33 million use unimproved toilets.
The dangers of Open Defecation can be noted in a statement made by Drissa Yeo, UNICEF (WASH) Specialist (2018). He had pointed out that “1 gram of excreta has 10 million viruses, 1 million bacteria and 1000 parasites” As UNICEF through its Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) / Clean Nigeria: Use the Toilet Campaign intervenes in ensuring that Nigeria gets better and improved healthcare for our children, Nigerian Government should double its effort of value reorientation through awareness creation on the dangers of Open Defecation and ensure community involvement to ensure an OD free country soon.
