Dr. Hope Orivri is a certified Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) specialist and an expert in Communication for Development (C4D).
Representing the UNILAG Mass Communication Department in 2023, Dr. Orivri won the 3-Minute Thesis (3MT) competition for doctorate students across African institutions with her presentation on “Utilisation of WASH Behaviour Change Messages among Mothers of Under-5 Children in Lagos Urban Slums.”
She is also a veteran maritime journalist and Publisher of One Page Africa. Orivri speaks with News Diet magazine on WASH and the public health concerns in Nigeria, especially in Lagos State.
Excerpts:
How does Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) affect public health, especially in a populous city like Lagos?
The provision of WASH facilities and the behaviour of people in the practice of WASH are major determinants for public health. However, it is one thing to provide facilities that improve sanitation and another matter entirely for the people to act responsibly. Nonetheless, the response of the public to sanitation and hygiene is highly influenced by the engagement and sensitization that they have been exposed to. This is where the role of the media and communication comes to play.
The 2022 Water Sanitation and Hygiene, National Outlook Routine Mapping (WASH NORM) findings indicated that at least 23% of Nigeria’s population, about 48 million people, still do open defecation. But my research work which surveyed Lagos respondents in the urban slum areas found that 61.8% of them did open defecation.
It is good to use data to talk about public health because data are indicators on the challenges, problematic behaviourial patterns and the specific areas for change. We cannot overemphasize the nexus between safe WASH and public health.
During my study of urban slums in Lagos, I found that in places with community toilets where users were asked to pay N20 or N50 for basic maintenance; patronage declined. People refused to pay because they feel it doesn’t seem right to pay for the use of a toilet. So, there is a need for intensified engagement for people to understand why they should pay for this service and keep themselves healthy, instead of doing open defecation.
Since it is the norm to find people doing open defecation in several parts of Lagos, it shouldn’t be surprising to find frequent outbreak of diseases like diarrhea, cholera, among others.
For a rapidly-growing city like Lagos, there should be more public toilets with soap and water in a hygienic environment. This will prevent a number of people from doing open defecation.
I have also carried out a small survey on eateries and found that people wash their hands with only water before eating, but they will always ask for soap to wash the oil after eating. After eating bacteria with the hands they are more concerned about soap to remove the oil. People need to know that this is a health challenge and proper engagement of WASH practices is needed to boost awareness.
Can you share some examples of successful sanitation programmes in other cities that Lagos could adopt?
Lagos is actually the example that several states in Nigeria are looking to emulate. Given the population of Lagos, estimated to be over 25 million, it is bad that one can still drive for long distances and not find public toilets. It means people would resort to open defecation in those areas regardless of the sensitization. There may be paucity of funds to provide the requisite infrastructure, but these facilities have to be provided.
As communicators, it is not enough to tell people the dos and don’ts about WASH. What is required is proper and intentional engagement to the point where ordinary citizens understand the importance of WASH as well as the health and financial implications.
When people fall sick, they witness the health consequences of neglecting WASH and eventually spend their finances on treatments to get well.
As a parent, if your child gets sick you would spend money to care for them. If you are a business person, you may also lose money in your business because you want to be in the hospital and won’t go for business. Nigeria is at a very critical point with respect to WASH and massive enlightenment and education is required.
Besides the intake of contaminated water, what other hygiene concerns should Nigerians pay attention to?
When we talk about hygiene, most people are quick to point out that they don’t eat roadside food. They forget that germs and bacteria will fester on any flat surface including; handles of car doors, house doors, tables and chairs, etc. There is a need to adopt the culture of regularly washing hands with soap.
In many Nigerian homes, top organizations, eateries and academic institutions, you no longer find hand washing facilities since the COVID-19 pandemic ended. In some cases you find hand washing facilities without soap and sanitizers. It has been proven extensively that ordinary water doesn’t kill germs.
Those who sell drinkable water also need to learn what it takes to keep the water clean. There should be enlightenment and monitoring to ensure that water is safe. Even when people are able to fetch water from a clean and safe source, there is still a lot to do in ensuring the water is kept safe for their use.
In Lagos, people buy water from vendors through jerrycans. Most of these containers are without lids and the containers are not frequently washed. Can this contribute to public health challenges?
This poses a big threat to safe water. I have also observed the Lagos water merchants popularly known as ‘Meruwa’ over a 1-year period and found that over 85% of their jerrycans don’t have covers. All manner of bacteria settle in the jerrycans and the fact that they don’t clean the container is another big problem.
It is sad that people use this water to cook and for other household chores. The water is used to bath and people swallow the water while having their bath, especially kids. Given the large number of communities that rely on Meruwa for water, their practice has to improve. Water vendors should be engaged to regularly wash their containers and get covers.
What effective solutions or strategies have been implemented for WASH, particularly in Lagos State?
WASH NORM survey maps out areas of specific needs with respect to availability of clean water, sanitation and effective strategies. The Lagos State Government and several private entities including non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have entered partnerships with leading global bodies like the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF); but these initiatives aren’t followed through. It appears the emphasis is always on the monetary benefits from grants and foreign donors, than doing the actual work.
Lagos State government has very beautiful policies on WASH but the problem is that there is a detachment from action. The complete WASH policy was adopted by Lagos State on the 2024 World Water Day on March 22nd. The policy is a revised and holistic document, but the practice in Lagos is a far cry from the policy.
Barely a month ago, there was cholera outbreak and Lagos was the most affected in the nation. This is because Lagos no longer has the capacity to provide the public health facilities for WASH.
In Surulere and most places in Lagos, everyone has his or her borehole system for water and this is a problem. The groundwater has become polluted as boreholes are dug close to septic tanks for sewage. So sewage water seeps into the underground water for boreholes with everybody sinking boreholes without any proper investigation.
Looking at sanitation from the prism of an urban problem, has the rapid urbanization in Lagos affected sanitization management?
Rapid urbanization in Lagos has further overwhelmed the available WASH facilities that were already overstretched. The pipes that supply water to most parts of Lagos via the Waterworks Corporation were constructed by Colonial masters around 1815. These pipes are expired and rusted, but carrying out proper work on the pipes would lead to severe water outage in Lagos because many communities rely on the pipes for water supply.
The problem with rapid urbanization in Lagos is that there is no corresponding capacity to take care of WASH. No corresponding capacity for provision of toilets, clean water, waste management, among others.
As an expert, what are your recommendations to address this menace in Lagos State?
One of my recommendations in my doctoral thesis stressed the need for a network of WASH in communities. Communities can be schools, offices or groups of people that drive the WASH conversation and share their experiences. By doing this, they become more conscious and begin to demand better hygiene from activities of individuals, groups, organizations and the government.
People have to get to the point where they begin to demand the real change that is desired for WASH. A good example of this type of people-driven change is the recent protest over bad governance and hardship in Nigeria. The same effect can be gotten for WASH with adequate sensitization and engagements.
My research work and others done by communicators on WASH, emphasizes the importance of community engagement and sensitization. If you want to eat your eba, first wash your hands with soap before eating.
In conclusion, it is pertinent to note that it is possible for people to have access to pipe water and the storage system becomes a big problem. Storage is a problem when people store water in containers that they don’t wash. Clean water becomes unsafe water when the residue of bacteria begins to build algae which is so deadly.