By Oscarline Onwuemenyi
Abuja, the Federal Capital city, prides itself as the fastest growing city in the world. Moreso, the administrators of the capital city relish the nickname, Green City, borne by the city of Abuja.

And, to lay claim to this title, the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA), has embarked on an accelerated greening project of the  city, by reclaiming and mapping out certain areas of the city for the development of parks and gardens which have greatly enhanced the beauty of the city and made it more attractive to visitors and residents alike.

Though this city of over five million has already cast off so much of its gray and dour past, conscientious citizens are worried that something imperils its emergence as a glittering metropolis. For instance, Mr. Ben Takena, Projects Coordinator of the Citizens Watch Group, an Abuja-based non-government organisation, insists that the beauty and opulence of the city could be marred by “the dearth of key facilities that reflect the advancement of our city.”

He is talking, of course, about the public toilets and the place of shit.

And, not only the sorry and disgusting state of the public facilities themselves. “We have a problem with our basic public toilet culture,” says Takena. As the initiator of a new drive by the NGO to draw attention to the poor toilet habits of residents in the FCT, he believes the city administration over the years have done little to fix that problem. “Everywhere you go across the city, at every corner you look, you are greeted by degrading sights of people urinating by the roadside and, in some cases, doing worse. It is an eye-sore,” he laments.

He adds, “In the few public toilets —  be it at the park, on a main thoroughfare or at the neighbourhood shopping complexes — the air is often so foul that you limit your breathing. The smell wafts out into the surrounding neighbourhood. You keep your eyes turned upward, to avoid fixing on the squalid floor. A good number of these toilets have no toilet paper. Many lack running water.

As Takena sees it, nothing less than Abuja’s bid for global respect is riding upon his organisation’s ability to deliver a public toilet revolution. “When people are not at home, a public toilet is an indispensable public facility,” he says. “Through the public toilet, you can see the degree to which the city is developed and civilised. We need to ensure that people have a comfortable experience as they relieve themselves.”

This may not be as simple as it sounds. To the Western eye, Nigeria is no archetype of good manners. The soundtrack of the streets is men hacking before spitting on the pavement. Children and adults often relieve themselves in the street. And, in a country in which citizens care less about public facilities, people have been known to liberate the toilet seats and even the plumbing from their local public facilities.

Happily, Takena is no lone crusader but part of a multi-pronged attack. The National Tourism Development Commission says it plans to introduce 2,000 mobile public toilets in the downtown area by the end of the year and many more in the suburbs. That would ensure that at least one such facility could be found within any 300 yard radius, and, with some open all-night, it could limit sidewalk urination, a common scene in front of a floodlit skyscrapper in the heart of the city.

John Williams, a journalist, wonders why FCT administrators are not keen in maintaining “nice smelling, hygienic and decent environments, even as they go about manicuring grasses and banning all sorts of things.” He says talk about banning alcohol and smoking “would amount to nothing in a city where the revolting public toilet in a neighbourhood easily broadcast its location with rank fumes.”

“It is disgusting and filthy,” said Ladi Karimu, a youth corps member who recently arrived the city. “Once you leave your home, you are really in trouble if you get pressed to relieve yourself.  My friends and I have resorted to making fast trips to eateries and even hotels, each time we feel the urge to use the toilets.” She notes that the practise could be expensive where one is not close to an eatery. “Imagine spending N400 or more just to go and do the thing.”

The United Nations Children’s Fund’s Country- Representative in Nigeria, Mr. Ayalew Abai, notes that no fewer than 60 per cent of Abuja residents do not have access to improved sanitation facilities. He adds that the Millennium Development Goal of halving the proportion of people without sustainable access to basic sanitation was far from being met.

Abai notes that sanitation encompassed a wide range of challenges including hygiene, solid waste or garbage disposal, and drainage among others. He says lack of access to basic sanitation facilities, coupled with poor hygiene practices, causes diarrhea. “Diarrhea is the largest direct cause of childhood mortality in Nigeria and is a major contributing factor to malnutrition and other diseases such as pneumonia. Also, the lack of safe, private toilets and hand-washing facilities in schools affects educational enrolment and performance.

“Girls are particularly affected, and poor sanitation is a contributing factor in Nigeria’s low girl-enrolment rates, which is about seven per cent below that of boys,” he says. The fund stated that institutional sanitation rates are also low, particularly in schools. It said on the average, there is only one toilet for every 500 students in schools, 10 times the standard of one for every 50 students.