SANITATION AND WASTE MANAGEMENT IN SEMI-URBAN AREAS IN NIGERIA: A REPORT ON MY SITE VISIT TO LUGBE COMMUNITY, FCT ABUJA, NIGERIA

Lugbe Community, Abuja

Following the response to a tweet I had done in January 2019 indicating my desire to work with other young people to address sanitation and waste management issues in Nigeria, I teamed up with Mr Seyifunmi Adebote and Ms Rafiat Shola Sule and visited Lugbe Community in Abuja where poor waste management and open defecation has been a menace plaguing the residents for years on end.

Outskirts of Lugbe Community, Abuja

The outskirts of the city was littered with dirt and Ms Rafiat (who was our contact person and guide) informed us that although several interventions have been carried out by community leaders to ensure that the outskirts of the city looks cleaner but most inhabitants and informal waste collectors always return to that spot to dump waste. According to Ms Rafiat, two functional public toilets existed in that vicinity and she led us to the major public toilet locally called Gidan-Wanka where we met Mr Abdulrahman who runs it, Mr Abdulrahman isn’t so fluent in English language so his friend (Mr Ibrahim) and Ms Rafiat were our interpreters. We asked him what the business was all about, his rates, his clients, how he maintains the place and what he thinks can be done to ensure more people patronise him and use public toilets instead of defecating in the open and in bushes. Mr Abdulrahman in his response told us that the business was established by another man (Mr Aladu) whom he reports to and that he lives within the premises of the public toilet where he oversees the customers who come in for bathing, urinating and toileting, these customers are charged ₦30 per visit regardless of what they want to do. He also mentioned that patronage isn’t predictable, for instance on some days, he makes as much as ₦500 and on other days, he may not even make up to half of that, and with the revenue he generates, he buys soap and other cleaning materials which he cleans the place with. He said some people still refuse to pay to use the facility because they feel the price is high and they cannot afford to pay that much for the service and for him, he couldn’t think of what could be done to make them think differently.

The Gidan-Wanka

In the middle of the courtyard, there was a tap and we were told that the customers of the Gidan-Wanka take water from that tap for their business and also, oftentimes other residents come in to fetch water at a price to cook, bathe, wash (and even drink). Behind the facility, a pipe from which grey water gushed out was seen and Ms Rafiat explained to us that while the facility had a soak-away pit for the waste that is generated in the toilets, the waste water and grey water is channeled directly to a stream in the community and that same stream was where some inhabitants washed their clothes and livestock also drank water from it.

After we left Mr Abdulrahman and Mr Ibrahim, we walked through the community to visit the palace of the chief. Smells of human excreta could be perceived at various times during our journey to the palace; on our way, we passed a large market – Ms Rafiat commented that the traders also do not have access to decent toilet facilities to use and most times, they also resort to bushes nearby. On getting to the palace, we were welcomed by Prince Mustapha, the Central Chairman of Lugbe community who informed us that the issue we came to make inquiries about has been a major problem plaguing them in the community and various efforts have been made to see how they can stop it including seeking government intervention to build a public toilet for residents.

In summary, the problems identified in this city are:

1. Open defecation
2. Poor waste management system

 

Palace of the District-Head

1      1. Open Defecation 

From all discussions we had, the citizens who practice open defecation were identified as those who engage in small businesses and who sometimes cannot afford to spend ₦30 whenever they are pressed and therefore resort to using the most convenient space around. Also we noted that the public toilet we visited and the other one we were shown were not located centrally for everyone to easily access it, for example, both public toilets were over five minutes’ walk away from the locations we identified where the people who needed them conducted business. Additionally, the people’s mind-set was considered as a huge factor because for some of these people, defecating in bushes is a cultural/traditional thing, they do not feel compelled to do their business in a confined space when there are options of using the bushes which they have been using right from time.

Solutions proffered are:

• Provision of Public Toilets in Central Locations & Regulation of Prices: Toilet facilities when provided in central locations will help solve the major challenge of where to go when pressed to answer the call of nature (alternatively, existing public toilets can be expanded and upgraded with necessary fittings to make it a more attractive and better option) and the price-per-use should also be regulated in such a way that it doesn’t discourage the residents and it also doesn’t threaten the existing public toilet businesses in the area, this will require a dialogue between all key stakeholders in the community.
• Enforcement: Community leaders along with law enforcement agencies will have to actively take up the responsibility of enforcing penalties on defaulters to discourage them from defecating openly.
• Sensitization: Major group discussions should be carried out in the market square, schools, faith houses etc., and the people made to understand the negative public health impacts.

2. Poor Waste Management System

From communication between us and some members of the community, we learnt that there is no organized waste collection system for the houses and comingled waste is taken to the outskirts of the city to be dumped or emptied in drainage systems around their homes. Even when the open dumpsite around the community is cleared by Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB) or the community leaders, the citizens still continue to take their waste there.

Solutions proffered are:

• Sensitization of the citizens on the importance of having a cleaner environment and recycling/composting.
• Create a system for organized waste collection by either an external waste collection company or as a means of job creation, some youth can be in charge of sorting and waste collection and they can take the waste to a central location in the outskirts of the city where the recyclables can be sold/composted and the non-recyclables stored in large sized bins for waste collection companies or the AEPB.
• Barricade the areas where waste is currently dumped to discourage people from taking the waste they generate there or turn the space into a recreation centre.

It is not enough to proffer solutions on paper to these sanitation and waste management problems which face Lugbe Community and several other semi-urban communities in Nigeria, the government as a matter of urgency, should address these challenges faced by Nigerians if it plans to raise the standard of living of its citizens.