Sanitation Insecurity and the Indignities of Open Toileting in Ibadan, Nigeria

Abstract

Open toileting is the discharge of human excrement, faecal and/or urinary, in any open space in the built environment. Indiscriminate exposure to bodily human waste adversely impacts peoples’ well-being and environmental health. The prevalence of toilet spaces such as open fields/spaces, forests, bushes, gutters, garbage dumps, streams and rivers constitute a public health hazard.  Whether off-street, on-street, flying, public, or private, toilets are inaccessible, of poor quality or non-existent in many public and private spheres in Nigeria. Triple peril of open toileting, toilet sharing, and inadequate water access predisposes many people to ill-health and disease. This paper adopts a qualitative inquiry using focus group discussions, interviews, observations, secondary and non-formal sources to elicit information and lived experiences of 22 individuals about the private and personal matter of toileting. The research was conducted in 2019. Deductions from the research includes moral failure, poor planning, and poor policy implementation. Lack of toilets and clean sanitation spaces, undignified toilet spaces, toilet sharing practices, lack of safety and toilet insecurity in terms of access, location and health were prevalent in places where people lived, learned, worked, played, and recreated. Paper suggests behavioural change through health promotion and advocacy to minimise the continued exposure to the various vector-borne diseases associated with open defecation and improper toilet facilities. Healthy spaces for toileting are essential to healthy life and living, and access to sanitation, inclusive toilets within public spaces is a human right, and the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals six and eleven.