It’s Shameful Nigerians Still Practice Open Defecation In 21 Century- College Provost

The Provost, Oyo State College of Health Science and Technology, Mr Siji Ganiyu, has described open defecation in the country at this time as shameful.

He said open defecation is an habit which some Nigerians have refused to outgrow, saying the government and the people must resolve to stop it.

Ganiyu, who said this in an interview with our correspondent on Wednesday, added that the practice must be stopped to prevent attendant diseases like cholera.

He said apart from the health implications of the practice, it is embarrassing when visitors come into the country and find human excreta on the road and other public places.

He said, “It is disheartening to see that some houses lack toilets at this age. Some landlords even convert places meant for toilets to shops and small rooms to make more money.

“When there are no sanitary conveniences in residential buildings, shops or offices, people will use available places to answer the call of nature. It is shameful that we still see open defecation in our towns and cities in Nigeria.

“In the olden days, before a building plan was approved, the environmental health office must also have approved wether there is compliance with sanitary conveniences or not. But that doesn’t happen any longer.

” If we want to end open defecation, one of the things we can do is to ensure that building plans pass through environmental health officers before town planners give their approvals.”

Ganiyu also said that emphasis is usually placed on curative medicine than preventive in the country.

He stated that improved hygiene would prevent some of the diseases causing problems to the peolle and.making government and individuals to waste so much resources on treatment.

According to him, sicknesses like Malaria fever, Cholera, Lassa fever and COVID-19 could be prevented to a large with clean environment and regular hand washing with soap and water.

“Most of the private organisations that are supposed to have environmental health technologists in their employment are not doing that.

“There is a government policy that any company that is into food production , waste collection and others must have environmental technologists in their employment, although we have that policy, there is no implementation,” he said.