Health

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The unhygienic state of public toilets in Lagos has been a great source of worry to users and members of the state House of Assembly

|  By Anayo Ezugwu  |  Jul. 15, 2013 @ 01:00 GMT

HAVE you ever been pressed and had to make use of a public toilet in Lagos? If your answer is yes, then you must have noticed the unhygienic condition you had to contend with. Many public toilets in Lagos are unhygienic, decrepit and neglected. A visit to any of them today will tell the story.

In Lagos, it is common to see people urinating in public places and defecating in open gutters in broad daylight. When Realnews visited some of the public toilets at Iyana Iba, an outskirt of Lagos, the experience of the reporter was not palatable. The toilet is being managed by an elderly man who sits on a platform at the entrance leading to the toilet to monitor what goes on there. As soon as the reporter stepped into the premises, he asked him what he wanted to do. “I am pressed and I need to make use of the public toilet here,” the reporter replied. The elderly man said it cost N50 to do the ‘big job’, and N20 to urinate.

After he collected N50, he pointed to a container filled with water and a stack of plastic bowls of different sizes and colours in a corner. Some of the bowls were old and dirty. The visitor picks one and fills it with water, and proceeds to the latrine. As the reporter stepped into a row of five latrines, the picture of neglect was palpable. Some of the plates which serve as inlets into the pits are darkened with age, while some of the wooden doors which provide privacy for users have given way. Some of the doors have no locks and users may need to either leave them ajar while defecating or look for one that has a lock.

Here, there is no platform of any kind on which the user of the toilet could put the bowl of water he would use to clean up after use. For this reason the user has to place the water container on the bare ground, and risk possible health hazard in the process. As soon as the user finishes, he takes the plastic outside, to replace in the stack placed at a corner. Another user comes and picks among them and the cycle continues.

Investigations by Realnews have revealed that most public toilets lack sanitary equipments. Some of them had no disinfectants. But the most worrisome is the attitude of the managers of these toilets. Most of them are not bothered about the insanitary conditions of the toilets but are rather more interested in the money made on a daily basis from those using the toilets.

Angelina Kelechi, businesswoman, said that nothing would make her to visit a public toilet in Lagos again. “For an average lady, such toilets are the easiest way to contact a disease. I had cause to visit one at Iyana Iba but I couldn’t stay there for more than 15 seconds, because of the heat emanating from the toilet’s opening leading to the septic tank. It was more like a pit latrine. As soon as I was inside, I completely lost the urge to ease myself,” she said.

According to her, the state government should ensure that public toilets in the state live up to certain standards otherwise such toilets should be closed down. She insisted that the owners of the toilets must make sure that they are always cleaned and equipped with disinfectants.

The deplorable state of many public toilets recently drew the attention of the Lagos State House of Assembly. The lawmakers said in a statement that the dysfunctional and poor sanitary conditions of most public toilets in the state could result in the spread of diseases. According to them, some of the problems with the public toilets include total disregard for hygiene by the managers and operators of such facilities, a situation, they insisted, often aggravated by irregular water supply, lack of provision of toiletries and disinfectants.

When contacted, Fola Adeyemi, director, public relations, ministry of environment, said maintenance of public toilets was not the responsibility of the ministry. “The ministry of environment does not handle public toilets; it is under the ministry of women affairs and poverty alleviation,” he said.

Oluwaferanmi Akinmuliya, public relations officer, ministry of women affairs and poverty alleviation, said he was not permitted by civil service rule to talk to journalists. He, however, said that it was only the permanent secretary or the director in charge of matters relating to public toilets, who could comment.

However, Realnews gathered that the ministry of women affairs and poverty alleviation built some of the public toilets and handed them over to private individuals to manage, as a sort of poverty alleviation by the state government. Besides, some of the public toilets were reportedly built and operated by private individuals, while local governments also manage some in their respective domains.

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