Background
In urban,
semi urban and rural communities of Nigeria, it is common to find feaces (shit)
in open places such as road side, drainages (gutters), market places, schools,
within peoples compound, road to stream, by the river banks and so on. Many
people who practice the unwholesome practice of open defeacation give several
reasons for doing so. Such reasons include;
- Suddenly feeling pressed for defeaction in public
places but without nearby public latrines to pass out the feaces
- Having no toilet facility in the house where they
live
- Finding it more pleasurable to defeacate in open
places such as bush or other public places because of the cooling effect
of the breeze that fan their anus when they defeacate
- They have grown up knowing that passing out
feaces is done in the bush, uncompleted buildings or in some plastic bags
for disposal in river/stream or bush
- Lack of toilet facilities in some public markets, schools, churches, mosques, offices etc
- Some public offices belonging to government lack
or at best have dilapidated/insufficient toilets
- Traveling by road and there is sudden need to
ease oneself of pressing pupu
The list
goes on and appear very convincing. However, it is important that we take a
critical look at the act of open and indiscriminate passing out of feaces (shit
or pupu)
Open Defeactation is a Public Health Risk
Everyone
knows that feaces or shit is a waste product that God in His wisdom designed
the body to eliminate it from itself because shit is extremely dangerous to
human body. All the contents of feaces are harmful to human body because shit
is a substrate (food) for microorganisms that cause disease (germs) to humans. Hence,
God also instructed the human race from the word go that feaces should be kept
far away from human dwelling places and must be buried in the ground to prevent
it from being exposed to humans. In other words, humans were instructed to
avoid contact with feaces to safeguard their health. By implication, the
practice of open defeacation is a direct contravention of God’s law of public
health. This important point makes open defeaction under any guise a criminal
act as it falls short of God’s order.
As I mentioned earlier, human feaces is a
substrate for germs and can support the massive growth of germs in millions
within minutes. Hence, an anvironment in which there is feaces in open place is
highly infested with germs that can make a persons who comes in contact with it
to fall sick or die if the infection is not attended to quickly. In rural communities many people walk bare footed (see photo of a woman in bare foot above) Besides,
diseases such as Ebola, cholera, diarrhea, bilhaziasis, monkey pox, lassa fever
etc spread like wild fire if an infected person passes out feaces in open
places adnd others contact it. This is another point that makes open
defeacation an offence and criminal.
Open Defeacation is a violation of the Human Rights to Sanitation
As much as
the act of open defeacation by anyone is evil and condenmable, the scarcity or
non availability of public toilets in our cities, small towns and villages,
inadequate or absence of toilets in banks, petrol stations, restaurants,
markets, hospitals, schools and residential houses contribute immensely and
encourages this barbaric act of open defeacation in urban and rural areas of
our country Nigeria and elsewhere. The afore mentioned are themselves
accomplices in the crime of open defeacation because they violate the human
rights to sanitation as declared by the United Nations in 2010. This is to the
extent that government and other stakeholders do not take adequate measaures to
ensure the progressive realization of this human right.
Steps to Stop Open Defeacation
We have seen
from this discussion that the act of open defeacation is no good and must be
condemned by all. It is also true that lack or inadequate public and private
toilets/latrines aids and abbets the criminal act of open defeacatation. Therefore,
any attempt to deal with the menace of open defeacation must deal with the root
causes of lack of decent places to pass out feaces and human attitudes towards
personal and public hygiene and sanitation. Some of the steps to take to tackle
this menace in our society are:
- Legislators should enact laws, edicts and by-laws
making the act of open defeacation criminal in any part of Nigeria and
these legislations should empower citizens to arrest or cause to be
arrested anyone found doing open defeacation in Nigeria
- Government, Non governmental organizations,
community based organizations, the private sectors and development
partners should embark on massive sensistization and enlightenment of the
general public at national, state and local levels towards inculcating the
ideals of personal and public hygiene and sanitation in the people
- Government should take urgent steps to ensure the
progressive realization of the human rights to sanitation by providing
adequate toilet facilities in all public places and at designated places
in the open cities and towns to curb open defeacation.
- The private sector should support government in
this regard by providing toilets in all their business premises for public
use and supporting government and NGOs/CBOs in their efforts to sensitize
the people.
- Government at the national level should declare
open defeacation as a national emergency in view of the serious danger that
the practice of open defeacation poses to public health in relation to
deadly diseases such as ebola, cholera, monkey pox, lassa fever etc in Nigeria.
This Blog was written by Hope Eghe Ogbeide
Director, Society for Water and Public Health Protection
(SWAPHEP)
Contact SWAPHEP
Tel: +2348037424999
Email: swaphep@yahoo.com,
swaphep@gmail.com
Website: http://sites.google.com/site/swaphep
Facebook: www.facebook.com/swaphep
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