Gege, a densely-populated area in Ibadan, Oyo State is one of the many areas where open defecation is often practised because of lack of proper sanitation systems. In this report, VINCENT KURAUN, YETUNDE AJANAKU and BARAKAT OLADOJA explore life inside the community and the implication of the growing challenge in many rural areas.
With over 48 million people lacking access to basic sanitation facilities, making use of open spaces, fields, or waterways to relieve themselves, which has become a daily reality for many in both rural communities and urban slums. The implications of such actions, however repulsive, are far-reaching as they directly alter the healthy environment creation ratio with consequential effects on public health and human dignity.
In many areas, the absence of toilets and sewage systems leaves residents with no choice but to resort to unsafe practices as open defecation. The problem stems from a combination of inadequate infrastructure, poverty, and cultural norms. But the consequences and health risks are severe, with open defecation contributing to outbreaks of diseases such as cholera, diarrhoea, and typhoid. These illnesses disproportionately affect children, increasing mortality rates and perpetuating cycles of poverty. Beyond health, the practice pollutes rivers and farmlands, and jeopardises food security and clean water sources for millions.
Ending open defecation is not just about building toilets, it’s also about investing in infrastructure, changing mindsets, and prioritising the basic human right to sanitation. Without this urgent action, the country risks compromising public health, environmental sustainability, and its aspirations for national development.
Despite the Federal Government’s “Clean Nigeria: Use the Toilet” campaign and the goal to end open defecation by 2025, progress remains slow. While some communities have embraced change, others face barriers like inadequate funding, poor implementation, entrenched habits and overall lack of government attention and/or support.
Life inside Gege Oloorun
One of such communities facing the barrier of ending open defecation in Nigeria is Gege, a densely-populated area in Ibadan, Oyo State, which has gained an unenviable reputation as one of the dirtiest places in the state capital. The persistent issue of open defecation continues to plague the area, exposing residents to the risks of diseases such as cholera, typhoid and dysentery. Gege’s reputation is such that the community is snidely referred to as Gege Oloorun (the stinking Gege).
Sunday Tribune’s visit to the community revealed the state of a lack of general sanitation as streams of waste flow through the streets, and the stench of human excreta permeates the air. Many houses lack toilets, a situation that forces residents to resort to open defecation in nearby bushes or rudimentary pit latrines.
Residents of the area were quick to highlight what they believe to be at the root of the problem. “Most of the houses here are very old, built decades ago when indoor toilets were not a standard feature,” said Mr Moshud Adeshola, a long-time resident. “People living here are willing to change the situation, but we need help from the government.”
Another resident, Mrs Sekinat Adewale, expressed frustration over the impact of poor sanitation on their daily lives in Gege community. “We live with constant worry about our children’s health. Diseases spread easily here, and the dirty environment affects everyone,” she said.
According to Mrs Adewale, the need for proper sanitation and infrastructure to restore the dignity of the area and the health security and safety of the community have become more urgent. She therefore asked all stakeholders, including the government to rise to the occasion.
The call for government intervention is unanimous among the residents.
Residents that spoke with Sunday Tribune urged authorities to prioritise sanitation in Gege by constructing toilets in every household and implementing waste management systems. “We need public toilets, even if it means sharing them among households. The government can also support landlords in renovating old buildings to include modern sanitation facilities,” said a youth leader, Mr Maminu Katibi.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has consistently stressed the importance of sanitation as a critical component of sustainable development. With Nigeria ranking among the countries with the highest rates of open defecation globally, communities like Gege require urgent attention.
Residents believe that addressing the problem will require collaboration among government agencies, non-governmental organisations, and the private sector. They listed such initiatives to include public-private partnerships to build low-cost toilets, sanitation education programmes, and enforcement of housing regulations to ensure all buildings include basic amenities.
Expressing her frustration over the lack of proper sanitation systems in the area, a resident, Mrs Romoke Gbemileke, said: “Our children are the ones who suffer the most. They play around in these dirty environments, and they frequently fall sick. We want a better life, but we need help to achieve it.”
Giving a proper perspective into the danger that lies ahead, a public health expert, Folake Adebayo, said: “When people defecate in open places, the pathogens in human waste contaminate the soil, water, and food sources. This leads to outbreak of diseases like cholera, which can spread rapidly in densely-populated areas like Gege. Moreover, the psychological toll on residents, particularly women and children, is immense. Women often feel unsafe going out to defecate, especially at night, while children grow up in conditions that compromise their health and dignity.”
An urban planning expert, Professor Olamide Akinlade, explained: “Communities like Gege are often ignored in development plans because they are seen as ‘low-priority’ areas. However, the neglect of such neighbourhoods only exacerbates urban inequality and creates public health crises that affect the entire city.”
He suggested that a comprehensive urban renewal plan is needed to address the sanitation issues in Gege, Such a plan would involve collaboration among government agencies, private developers, and non-governmental organisations to upgrade infrastructure, provide affordable housing, and ensure access to basic amenities like toilets and clean water.
Beyond health and sanitation, the conditions have far-reaching social and economic implications. Open defecation contributes to the stigma associated with the area, making it difficult for residents to attract investment or improve their livelihoods.
“People look down on us because of how dirty our area is,” said a shop owner in the community. Saka Olawuyi. “It affects business because outsiders don’t want to come here. Even our children feel embarrassed to tell people where they live.”
The lack of sanitation also has direct economic costs. This is because families spend a significant portion of their income on medical bills due to illnesses caused by poor hygiene. Additionally, women and girls face unique challenges, as the lack of private sanitation facilities limits their ability to manage menstruation safely and with dignity.
While the challenges in communities similar to Gege are daunting, they are not insurmountable. Several potential solutions could help the community overcome its sanitation crisis like government-funded sanitation projects.
The government could initiate projects to build public toilets and upgrade existing housing to include sanitation facilities. This would require significant investment but could be implemented in phases to ensure sustainability, Community-Based Initiatives, Local leaders could mobilize residents to contribute to sanitation projects, such as constructing shared toilets or organising waste management systems. Community ownership of these initiatives would ensure long-term success.
Impacts of open defecation
Explaining the gravity of the problem facing many local communities that lack adequate sanitation systems, experts pointed to a complex web of factors contributing to the issue like poverty, lack of access to sanitation facilities, and limited government investment.
One of such experts, who spoke to Sunday Tribune, is a Professor of Urban Geography and Planning, Department of Geography and Environmental Management, Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Magnus Ojeifo.
According to him, “When people defecate openly, the first thing is that it will emit a bad smell and cause inconveniences to people passing by.
“And then apart from the bad smell or odour, what you have is unsightly in the sense that it’s not what people want to have eye contact with. You know that you see things like that in villages and it’s not what you want to see with your eyes.
“And once you see them with your eyes, of course, you are not a happy person. So, these are the identified direct consequences. Bad smell, unsightly consequences and not wanting to have eye contact with it because of the way it looks.
“The indirect one is the fact that when you defecate in an open place, you begin to invite disease-causing organisms which we call vermins.”
He listed the disease-causing organisms attracted to open faeces to include insects like flies and cockroaches, rodents like rats, and various microorganisms. These pests can then contaminate food and other items in homes and therefore lead to illness.
“Cockroaches, flies, rats, and other microorganisms of that nature, you begin to see them. I know that once these vermins I mentioned have contact with such a thing, they can, in turn, come to our houses and infect our foods, infect some of the things we consume.
“And once that is done, diseases begin to spring up. For example, cockroaches are harmful insects that we have around us. But if we don’t deal with them in our houses, common sicknesses can occur. The same thing with rats.
“Flies will perch on food and consumables and so on and once we take them, we become infected with one disease or the other. These are the direct and the indirect consequences of open defecation, especially in developing countries like Nigeria,” he explained.
Speaking on the role of socioeconomic factors like poverty, access to sanitation infrastructure, education levels, and how they are linked to open defecation practices, Professor Ojeifo said, “The most hygienic facilities for convenience are the water system, but most of the poor do not have access to this. Most of the poor in Nigeria do not have access to a water system.
“Now if you take a survey of houses, especially in the rural areas and also in urban areas, you will discover that many places particularly in rural areas do not have access to water systems.
“So, open defecation is most common in these areas. Then if you go to urban centers, the shanties, and the slum areas there do not have these facilities and as a result of that, open defecation is very common.”
He also explained that poverty has forced many low-income earners in the country to often live in poorly-structured houses, sometimes in slums and shanties that lack proper sanitation systems.
“They go for low-structure houses because people like that just want to live and survive.
“So any facility that is available or not, they make do with it. So, poverty is a problem, they don’t have money to build their houses, so the only houses they can rent because of the low income they get are the houses that are in shanties and slums that don’t have these basic facilities,” he said.
Professor Ojeifo further highlighted significant infrastructure gaps hindering sanitation access for a large portion of Nigeria’s population, including “a lack of sufficient and accessible water, inadequate and potentially unsafe health facilities, limited electricity access, and an acute housing shortage, particularly in urban areas.”
He also emphasised that overcrowding in existing houses as a major issue that further compounds the problem.
“Beyond electricity, housing is a critical issue in Nigeria. Urban areas, like Lagos and Abuja, demonstrate the significant problem of overcrowding, with roughly one to three people per room. Also, urban housing is too expensive, creating a housing affordability gap.”
He further maintained that, “The key problems are a lack of water, insufficient healthcare facilities and equipment, and unreliable electricity. Without electricity, many home conveniences become unavailable, diminishing quality of life.”
Addressing these gaps, Professor Ojeifo urged the government to prioritise addressing the persistent water shortages in both urban and rural areas. “This crucial need has existed for too long and demands immediate action.
“Nigeria’s water supply system needs a fundamental shift from individual solutions to a centralised and government-managed system. The current reliance on private individuals sinking borehole is unsustainable and often provides unsafe water. Developed countries demonstrate that centralised water provision, with government responsibility and user fees, is a more effective and healthier model.”
He stressed that, “Most people in Nigeria today have problems as the result of bad water consumption and that gap needs to be fixed. There is also a housing deficit in Nigeria when you look at the entire population of the country.
“When houses are not available, people can live anywhere. Some people defecate in buckets, some people go to open places at night and do their thing there and when you wake up in the morning and you are walking in the street, you will see garbage of faeces everywhere, particularly in urban areas.
“In rural areas, every available bush has been converted because these facilities are not there. So, the government needs to increase housing availability to Nigerians. How would they do this?
“Open defecation creates breeding grounds for disease-carrying vermin, leading to infections that claim lives due to inadequate public hospital care. Low quality and underfunding of these hospitals, coupled with high costs, result in preventable deaths. Electricity access is also a critical need,” he explained.
‘Waste technologies can help address open defecation’
Also speaking on the health implications of open defecation, a Professor of Urban and Regional Planning at the Federal University of Technology, Akure, Ondo State, David Olanrewaju, told Sunday Tribune that open defecation has a cascading effect on health, impacting individuals, communities, and the environment through a range of direct and indirect health implications.
According to him, “When we have contact with flies and other insects, we can be exposed to pathogens like bacteria and parasites through contaminated water, and food, and this direct contact can lead to diarrheal diseases, cholera, typhoid, dysentery, and other gastrointestinal illnesses.”
Professor Olanrewaju emphasised the critical need for innovative sanitation technologies in Nigeria, given the existing challenges in accessing safe drinking water and sanitation, saying “innovative approaches to sanitation are crucial for Nigeria considering the country’s challenges.”
He outlined potential technologies for the country, including decentralised sanitation, bio-digestion, container-based sanitation, and waste-based treatment, along with their respective advantages and disadvantages.
“Decentralised sanitation systems treat wastewater on-site, reducing the need for large sewage systems. Advantages include lower costs, higher efficiency, and environmental benefits. However, drawbacks include increased maintenance, potential health risks if poorly managed, and community acceptance issues,” he said.
Bio-digestion, according to him, “involves using microorganisms to break down organic waste, producing biogas and fertiliser. Benefits include renewable energy generation, reduced waste management costs, and improved sanitation while the drawbacks include substantial upfront costs, a need for skilled personnel, and possible environmental harm if not properly implemented.”
He highlighted container-based sanitation (CBS) and wastewater treatment technologies, saying “CBS uses sealed containers for waste collection and treatment, potentially improving sanitation, reducing environmental harm, and enhancing safety. However, CBS faces challenges like higher costs, regular emptying needs, maintenance requirements, and community acceptance issues.”
Professor Olanrewaju also explained that, “Wastewater treatment technologies utilise natural or artificial systems (like wetlands or membranes) to improve water quality. While these methods offer benefits such as enhanced water quality, reduced environmental impact, and increased reuse potential, they also present challenges like high upfront costs, reliance on skilled labour, and potential for negative environmental effects, if not properly implemented.”
He noted that “Nigeria has already started exploring some of these innovative approaches. For instance, the Nigerian government has launched initiatives like the National Action Plan (NAP) for the revitalisation of the country’s water supply, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) sector. Additionally, projects like the Effective Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Services (E-WASH) project funded by USAID, aim to improve water and sanitation services in urban areas.”
To eliminate open defecation, Olanrewaju advocates a multisectoral approach. Crucial policy changes, he said, are substantial public funding for sanitation infrastructure, particularly rural latrines; regulated private sector involvement in service delivery; public health campaigns promoting hygiene; and guaranteed access to safe water. He pointed out that the strategy must also consider environmental factors and promote sustainable sanitation practices.
“The most important thing is making sure there is provision of water which is very essential, making sure that each household has toilet facilities and then, the provision of public toilets in public places.”
He maintained that consistent policy implementation is crucial. This according to him includes ensuring the provision and maintenance of toilets and facilities throughout the urban and residential areas.
“Continuous advocacy for the provision and maintenance of toilet facilities in urban and living areas. Education and awareness campaigns to inform the public about sanitation issues.
“Public education and advocacy are essential for the policy’s adoption and successful implementation.”
He also emphasised the need for proper planning in living areas to manage waste effectively and prevent open defecation.
According to him, “By addressing these key recommendations holistically, Nigeria can effectively tackle open defecation, improve public health, and enhance the overall well-being of its citizens.”
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