By Yushau Abdulwasiu
Rahimi Sanusi, a septuagenarian, was sweating profusely as he walked in search of a comfortable location to answer the full call of nature when this reporter met him in June.
Anytime he and his family members get pressed, they only walk a few meters into the bush to discharge as their mud house, located in Omupo, a town in Kwara State, lacks a toilet.
Mr Sanusi told UDEME that some other people in the town resort to defecating in plastic bags and retaining them in their houses until they are able to throw them away in the bush. This, he said, happens mostly at night when it becomes inconvenient to visit the bush to defecate.
The walk into the bush can be very uncomfortable depending on how pressed one is but there are more dangers. Mr Sanusi stepped on shattered glasses on one occasion.
“You won’t believe that despite being injured and bleeding, I struggled out of the bush myself before I was rescued to the hospital for treatment,” Mr Sanusi said.
Some people have lost their lives in their attempts.
Abdulrasaq Abdulraheem shared the story of his late brother, Yusuf Tijani, who was a resident of Erin-Ile in Oyun Local Government Area. Mr Tijani passed away a few years ago while attempting to defecate in the bush.
Mr Tijani was in his twenties and farmed a small piece of land before he died.
Mr Abdulraheem said his brother told him he was going to defecate in the bush one evening but never returned.
“I went out, spent almost two hours, and came back, he has not returned home. I asked for him, but no one had seen him and his number wasn’t reachable.
“This prompted me to go to where he went to defecate, I met him in a pool of blood being stabbed by unknown people, and then he was quickly taken to the hospital for treatment. Unfortunately, he couldn’t reveal exactly what happened to him before he died despite the attention given to him in the hospital.
“Had it been we had a toilet in our house or community, we wouldn’t have lost my brother,” he said.
Toilet project to the rescue?
What dwellers thought to be an intervention came in 2022 when their lawmaker, Ismail Tijani, representing Ifelodun, Offa, and Oyun Federal Constituency at the House of Representatives nominated a project.
The project, titled Construction of public toilets in selected locations in Ifelodun, Offa, Oyun Federal Constituency, Kwara State, was part of his 2022 Federal Government Consolidated Project.
The project was awarded to Honestech Engineering Limited under the supervision of Nigeria Stored Product and Research Institute (NSPRI) at the sum of N3 million.
UDEME found that the project was sited in two towns; Omupo, Ifelodun local government, and Erin-Ile, Offa local government.
When UDEME visited the locations of the project in June, it was discovered that one toilet is situated at Omupo beside the Olomu Palace, and the other one is located at Erin-Ile near of Police Children School’s new site beside Erin-Ile Police station.
Furthermore, UDEME observed that the toilet located at Erin-Ile was designed to serve only the school as it was built and painted the same colour as the newly constructed classes in the new site.
Residents are worried the location has them excluded and that their problem continues.
Dwellers speak
At the second location, the toilet project has been completed but it is under lock and keys. The Ojoko Olomu of Omupo, Usman Ajao said the rate at which the toilet was constructed, no one would ever think it could be locked and made inaccessible to the residents till this moment.
Mr Ajao further said he heard that the project was still under lock because it has not been commissioned yet.
“At least, if it has been opened, it would have reduced the stress and stopped defecating around and also eradicated dumping in an erosion whenever it rains,” he said.
This is against recent bills signed by the state government to eradicate such acts and introduce penalties.
The World Bank Statistics’ suggested that, regions with high rates of open defecation experience tremendous problems in terms of sanitation and proper waste management.
Toilet location not well-thought – residents
Musa Lateefat, a fashion designer whose shop is located adjacent to the Erin-Ile police station explained why the toilet won’t be useful to the public, saying it has been built together with the newly constructed classes in the new site of the Police Children School.
“If not, since it has been fully constructed why is it locked and not open to serve the public? I think it will be functioning when the school finally moves to the new site. Can you see how everywhere is so bushy now,” she told UDEME.
UDEME learnt that the Police Children School is planning to move from their old site to the new site beside Erin-Ile police station when they are done with the construction.
The feeling is the same at Omupo. Odewale Michael, a resident of Omupo said the location of the project makes it appear that it’s not meant to serve the public because the palace fence almost covered it.
“Initially, I thought it was built for the Palace because I always see it locked anytime I’m passing. Moreover, how can it be possible for the residents to come to defecate or empty their babies’ potty in the palace? Seriously, I don’t see any reason the project will serve the community well,” he explained.
UDEME reached out to the lawmaker to ask why the projects are still under lock but he angrily ended the call. We also got no response to text and WhatsApp messages sent to him.
This report was produced under the Udeme project of the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID)
