FEATURE: Open defecation, improper waste disposal expose Kwara residents to diseases, deaths, as officials lament challenges

It was a sunny afternoon on July 4, 2022, when a local provision store owner, Mrs Ola Yemisi rained insults on those who defecated in the bush behind her shop. The middle-aged woman’s customers have made several complaints about how her environment smells. Many people in the community share the same story regarding the foul smell in major parts of the town.

According to an academic journal, the Environmental Sanitation law of 2004 complements the Kwara State Environmental Protection Agency of 1992 on the management and control of solid waste. The law was created to ensure sanitary conditions in residential and public places in Kwara State.

The law prohibits indiscriminate dumping of wastes along the highways, roads, channels, gorges, and vacant lands except at designated refuse disposal sites approved by the Kwara State Protection Agency. The law also mandates all vehicles and containers used in transporting wastes to be covered in such a way that the contents do not litter the road. The law also provides that all waste from markets, restaurants, schools, shops, religious premises, and other commercial institutions should be packed in plastic waste bags or tightly covered dustbins before disposal.

Furthermore, the law provides that any person who contravenes or fails to comply with its provision shall be guilty of an offense and shall upon conviction be liable to the fines ranging between N500.00 (Five hundred naira) and N10,000.00 (Ten thousand naira).

Despite the laws existing on waste management, residents of the local communities in Kwara State still defecate openly and litter the environment.

According to the Federal Ministry of Environment, Nigeria generates 32 million tonnes of waste every year, one of the highest in Africa. 2.5 million tonnes of the waste generated is plastic waste, most of which ends up as particles floating on waters, distorting landfills, and beaches. Much of this solid waste litter the environment causing air and environmental pollution and flooding as it also blocks drainage systems.

In a recent report by the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NHISA), Kwara was listed among the 32 states prone to flooding through the annual flood outlook.

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has confirmed that 225 communities have been ravaged by flood, following heavy and prolonged rainfall across 31 LGAs of Kano and Jigawa states from July this year.

This flood has caused deaths, displacement of persons and loss of properties.

About 46 million Nigerians still defecate in the open with Kwara, Ebonyi, and Plateau rated the highest in the country, while the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) also disclosed that 23.5 percent of the population indulge in the act of open defecation.

A result of open defecation is seen in World Health Organisation (WHO) data published in 2020 about diarrhea diseases in Nigeria reaching 144,724 or 9.77 per cent of total deaths. The age-adjusted death rate of 78.99 per 100,000 population ranks Nigeria 13 in the world.

Meanwhile, 76 per cent of Nigeria’s population is estimated to be at risk of malaria by living in high transmission areas, vested with waste.

Nigeria accounts for 27 percent of malaria cases worldwide and the highest number of deaths (24 percent) due to malaria in 2019 (World Malaria Report, 2020).

 We do not have toilets — Residents

On a visit to Igangu and Omi-Oko communities in Kwara, this reporter met with three women who reside in the community. They admitted that they engage in open defecation because they have no toilet.

One of the women, who pleaded anonymity, disclosed that many residents defecate openly in bushes because their landlords do not have the money to construct proper toilets for them.

Reacting to the question of being caught and being punished for open defecation, the women said that they do not drop refuse or defecate where environmental health officers will notice, adding that children are the ones usually seen defecating in the open.

However, a resident simply identified as Arowolo, said despite having a toilet in his house, he delights in defecating in the nearby bushes. “I just like excreting in the cool breeze of the morning in a small bush,” he said.

The prevalence of indiscriminate waste disposal in Kwara 

Arogundade Isaiah who lives in the C.A.C area of Omu-Aran complained about the increasing rate of waste mismanagement in the environment.

Isaiah decried the action of those living across the streets who dump refuse inside the gutters whenever it is raining and leave his family with no choice but to take care of the waste.

He went on to complain about the absence of ‘wole wole’, referring to environmental officers who inspect houses and punish environmental law offenders.

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“When we were younger, our parents used wole wole to scare us but now, I don’t think there is anything called wole wole or probably they are inactive,” he said.

Findings by this reporter show that core parts of the town are polluted by waste and open defecation especially in Igangu Area, Ile NLA, Omi-Oko, and a few other areas.

Indiscriminate waste disposal poses danger to the environment — Expert 

An environmentalist, Mr Olusola Johnson, said that the planet is suffering from improper waste disposal.

Mr Johnson, who is a lecturer of Environment Management at Ekiti State University (EKSU),  said, “When the waste is not properly managed, it causes land pollution.”

He explained further, “In Nigeria here, what we call landfill is not landfill; they are just mere dump sites. When waste is released into dumpsites, they contaminate the land. Plastics are produced through different chemical reactions. And a normal plastic can take about five hundred years to be decomposed, talk less of thousands of plastics. They release toxins into the land.

“Water pollution, these wastes percolate into the soil and go straight into water bodies which cause Retrofication. This reduces the amount of sunlight going into the water bodies, oxygen is being deprived, the fishes and other marine life die and smell which leads to water pollution.”

He further disclosed that improper waste management leads to global warming and climate change which causes extreme weather conditions, evident in Europe, Pakistan, and even flooding in Nigeria.

“The ozone layer, a  constituent of greenhouse gasses which used to be as big as South America but is now as small as Africa today because of improper waste management and chemicals released, lead to the thinning of the ozone layer causing climate change,” he said.

The lecturer harped on the need to stop using plastics for food packaging but use traditional means like leaves which, according to him, are biodegradable.

In his words: “we used to serve rice in organic plantain leaves. The jeans we wear, we could change them to bags instead of disposing of them. People should reuse and recycle.”

To address the menace of improper waste management in Nigeria, he suggested landfills, reduction of plastics, waste sorting, and government policies, adding that scrap dealers are aiding the recycling and re-use of such items.

“[We need] landfills that are properly managed. Reuse the plastic bottles. You can use the plastic bottles to build houses that will be very strong. When there is a strong legal backup, I think we can manage our waste well. Advocacy will help, people must be given awareness on how to manage waste. The government must bring in enabling policies. The metal scrap pickers (Boola) who pick things on the streets are aiding reusing in the environment.”

A resident of Government Reserve Area (GRA), Architect Abraham Yakubu, while speaking with this reporter opined that ‘refuse points’ should be created in the community as seen in modernized places for the residents to dump their wastes, which sewage trucks will eventually dispose of properly.

 

Health implications of open defecation

A public health expert, Philip Obayan, noted that there are innumerable negative impacts of waste mismanagement on public health.

He said: “Mosquitoes and rats are known to live and breed in sewage areas, and both are known to carry life-threatening diseases. Mosquitoes breed in cans and tires that collect water and can carry diseases such as malaria and dengue. Rats find food and shelter in landfills and sewage, and they can carry diseases such as Lassa fever.”

Another public health expert, Mr. Aondowase Nahson, rated the waste management of the Omu-Aran community as “very poor.”

In a bid to curb open defecation and waste management issue, he said he educates his patients before treating them so they are informed about the cause of the ailment.

Nahson, who is in charge of the Omu-Aran Clinic, Kwara District Health Programme under Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA), noted that cholera, diarrhoea, and vomiting break out as a result of improper waste mismanagement which increases the mortality rate as disease-spreading flies travel a long distance from the dirty places to the neatest parts of the community.

While narrating his personal experience in the community, he said, “When I just arrived here, I had to take care of the surroundings of the clinic. You will see leather full of faeces. A sack filled up with shit was dumped in a small bush close to the clinic.

“Some houses don’t have toilets, so they defecate in the gutters. In some areas, you can not pass because of open defecation. You have to hold your nose when you are passing some areas.

“There is improper waste management of markets in the community even though food items are open for display advertising in the market stalls making food items poisonous.”

Consequently, he tasked public health experts to preach the gospel of environmental sanitation in their local dialect for better and more impactful communication.

Kwara State government’s position on  open defecation, waste mismanagement 

Speaking with this reporter, the Deputy Director of Kwara state ministry of environment, Abayomi Idowu, shared the effort of the government to curb open defecation and waste mismanagement.

He said: “Kwara state government has engaged social waste contractors who are in charge of the waste disposed of from the metropolis, we also have commercial waste contractors that go into houses to collect waste and charge them a token at the end of the month.

“On open defecation, this is a habit the state government has been trying to discourage but people are already used to it. The majority of those who engage in open defecation do not have toilets. In Ilorin, the government has provided about 11 toilets located in strategic places and collected a token from the users. We intend to extend the tentacles of this to other areas of the state.

“We have also embarked on sensitisation for the people to know about the importance of toilets. Even when some people have toilets in their homes, they still defecate openly because of some traditions. We sensitize them through the use of radio, television, and megaphones, We also embark on punishing the defaulters (the environmental law offenders).”

In response to the inactivity of the environmental health workers, he said there are environmental health workers at the state and local government levels, but the problem is that they are few when compared to the population of the people they are expected to control.

Abayomi called for the recruitment of more officers by state and local governments. He said that many people have been trained but unemployed in the service performed.

Meanwhile, this reporter visited the Irepodun Secretariat, where the office of the environmental health officers is situated.

Sectional head of environmental health workers, in Irepodun local government, Mrs. Aladeniyin Ruth Mosunmola, said that the local government employed people to transport waste, but funding has ended the waste carriage scheme.

“We know the climate is changing, but in Irepodun here, we do not have the money to take enough care of the environment.”

Another environmental health worker, who did not disclose his name, said that the lack of staffers is a major reason their operations are considered ineffective.

“In the whole of Irepodun local government, we only have 15 environmental health officers. Omu Aran is wide; I can not check every house in it. In fact, we depend on reports most of the time. Also, the fund is not there. The local government is willing, but the financial capacity is not there.

“The fear that grips people when they say ‘wole wole’ is no longer there because our society is bigger and they have resources unlike now.”

Speaking on sensitizing the residents on environmental issues and climate change, the officer noted that before punishing any offender, they educate them and explain the need for environmental cleanliness.

He equally emphasized the need for funding for the body to perform its duty excellently.

In his words: “We are too small. The specification of the World Health Organisation (WHO) says that one environmental officer should man a hundred people. Now compare the population of Irepodun and Kwara State. The staff members are retiring, and new staff members are not coming in, making the work cumbersome.”

Meanwhile, efforts to reach the State Commissioner of Environment for comments proved abortive as at the time of filing this report.

By Peace Oladipo…

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