By Adeleke Gbenga
Still basking in the euphoria of the 19th November 2024 “World Toilet Day” celebration, during which five communities in Iloffa, the Oke-Ero Local Government Area Headquarters—namely Iloffa, Aiyedun, Imode, Egosi, and Ila-Ojigi—were awarded certificates for becoming open defecation-free, the Kwara State Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency (RUWASSA) was on the move again. The agency, unrelenting in its campaign against open defecation, poor sanitation, hygiene, and unsafe drinking water, hosted three UNICEF staff from Kaduna, the headquarters of the international donor agency in northern Nigeria, to Ilorin, Kwara State.
From the 21st to the 26th of November 2024, they were hosted at Elite Tranquil Hotel for a training workshop on value reorientation and behavioural change against open defecation in Kwara State. The workshop aimed to train 32 local government staff from across the 16 Local Government Areas of Kwara State as facilitators. These facilitators are expected to return to their respective communities to bring about a change in behaviour, attitudes, values, norms, and orientation towards open defecation.
UNICEF’s concern about Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6, which focuses on access to safe drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene, appears too critical to development to be ignored. This likely explains why the international donor agency readily embraced Kwara State when the administration of Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRasaq committed ₦300 million to promoting SDG 6. However, a tour around the state capital, Ilorin—and even more so in other communities—reveals that a large segment of the population still practices open defecation, with only a few having access to safe drinking water.
Since the objective of SDG 6, in UNICEF’s estimation, is to reduce the incidence of waterborne diseases, poor sanitation, and hygiene-related outbreaks like cholera, the international donor agency deemed it fit to send three of its staff—James Clement, Jonah Vings Lomak, and Ruth Musa—from Kaduna to Kwara for a trainers’ workshop on the “Community-Led Total Sanitation” (CLTS) concept through principles of social marketing.
The 6-day workshop, held at Elite Tranquil Hotel along Offa Road in Ilorin, was packed with insightful anecdotes drawn from similar programmes across northern Nigeria. Declaring the workshop open, the Commissioner for Water Resources, Honourable Usman Yunusa Lade, represented by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Mrs. Christiana Asonibare, welcomed UNICEF resource persons from Kaduna to Ilorin. She assured them of the administration’s total support for the programme and urged participants from the 16 Local Government Areas to seize the opportunity to write Kwara’s name in gold. She emphasized the significance of the programme to the success of Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRasaq’s administration in public health, sanitation, and hygiene, adding that the achievements made at the workshop would determine Kwara’s next steps.
In his opening remarks, RUWASSA’s General Manager, Mr. Olorunfemi Oladipo, welcomed all participants and reiterated the necessity of the workshop to the administration’s programme on open defecation and the WASH (Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene) sector. He applauded Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRasaq for his unwavering commitment to public health, sanitation, and hygiene, saying history would remember his administration for its strides in eradicating open defecation in Kwara State. Mr. Oladipo charged participants to pay close attention to every detail of the training workshop.
The first day of the workshop, 21st November 2024, began with a pre-training test evaluation. This session assessed participants’ expectations, fears, and objectives for the workshop. The concept of Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) was thoroughly examined, with its significance as an approach to improving sanitation and hygiene explored. Its principles and triggering techniques were also discussed by the resource persons.
According to James Clement, “We are here to facilitate Community-Led Total Sanitation, which means a community is expected to be free from open defecation. It must be well-kept with proper waste disposal management, ensuring wastes are not dumped indiscriminately. A community must be free of contamination, well-kept, and healthy. It must undergo a total change from open defecation, as open defecation contaminates the environment.”
Clement further explained, “A community must maintain good sanitation and hygiene, meaning every member must understand the significance of healthy living—bathing regularly, keeping the environment clean, maintaining clean drainage, and having covered toilets.” Speaking exclusively to The Herald on Sunday after his presentation, Clement stated that the workshop began with a pre-test to evaluate participants’ capacities and guide the facilitators in designing appropriate skills for the participants.
“We went through the Community-Led Total Sanitation process yesterday because we cannot just go into communities and implement CLTS without understanding the proper process. We identified the objectives of the workshop, which include: elimination of open defecation; improved access to sanitation and hygiene in all communities in Kwara State; increased access to safe toilets; enhanced community wellbeing and health; and fostering community ownership.”
Clement emphasized the importance of behavioural change as a key element of CLTS. He said, “I told participants that they must first change themselves as facilitators. If they do not change, they cannot inspire behavioural change in the communities. They are here to represent Kwara State, not just their communities. If they get it right here, they will get it right in the communities.”
The second facilitator, Jonah Vings Lomak, explained that triggering tools were essential to inspire and motivate communities. He presented on “Defecation Area Mapping (DAM),” which involves raising awareness about the dangers of open defecation and promoting healthy living.
The third facilitator, Ruth Musa, stressed that sanitation and hygiene encompass proper waste disposal, environmental sanitation, personal hygiene, and water sanitation. She reiterated that open defecation is the workshop’s primary focus because it contaminates the environment and leads to disease outbreaks. “Every gram of excreta defecated in an open environment contains millions of parasites, which can cause diseases that badly affect communities,” she said.
Participants expressed optimism about their newfound skills. A representative from Ilorin West Local Government acknowledged the endemic sanitation challenges in his area, including waste disposal issues due to overpopulation. He assured that his team was determined to combat these challenges with all available resources. Another participant, Mrs. Deborah Adeoye from Oke-Ero Local Government, said she had acquired social marketing skills to bring about change in her community. She pledged her commitment to the success of the programme.
The programme concluded after six days of intensive sessions. While the efforts and commitment of the Ministry of Water Resources, RUWASSA, and UNICEF were evident, the ultimate success of the programme lies with the local government staff and, most importantly, the communities’ willingness to embrace change and own the process. Community ownership is critical to the success of the Community-Led Total Sanitation concept.