Femi Akinola
2 November 2009
analysis
Lagos — In 2008, Lagos State government through the State's Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development (MPPUD) directed all petrol stations to build a minimum of two toilet within their premises for use of members of the public, apart from the one meant for their workers.
Since the directive has been handed down over a year ago, majority of the petrol stations that dotted the metropolis have not abided with the state directive, Daily Trust can reveal.
Thus, various urinary ponds combined with human faeces are being created and such have become part of life in the city. There now is a feast of faeces in Lagos particularly at train stations and around motor garages.
It was recall that there was a time that the former President Olusegun Obasanjo described Lagos as a jungle city. However, the authority at the seat of power in Ikeja disagreed with the former president's description.
Then, informed opinions drew conclusive pictures of horrifying environment in Lagos caused by the increase in the population of the city. Activities of armed robbers who are mostly youths, pick-pockets, area boys menace, prostitution, filthy environment, one-chance operations, ritual killings and similar activities were the order of the day.
In Lagos today, the state government had attempted to reverse the trend of most of these activities in the city and embarked on beautification of the state thereby making Lagos beautiful once again.
In addition to working towards clean environment, the state government went ahead to tackle the menace of area boys and girls, equipped the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA) and the Kick Against Indiscipline (KAI) to ensure the market women and men, hawkers on the highways and passersby did not litter the environment with nuisance.
However, there seem to be a sort of agreement among some residents in Lagos to turn under flyovers and bridges include set back of major roads to a place to discharge faeces. It has now become a unique behaviour by some residents in the Mega City particularly the hawkers, traders and market women at places like Agege, Ajegunle, Yaba, Ebute-Metta and Idumota. various urinary ponds combined with human faeces are being created and such have become part of life in the city. There now is a feast of faeces in Lagos particularly at train stations and around motor garages.
The reason why the greater number of Lagos population said to be around 18 million end up discharging faeces in this manner has remained unfathomable as the rationale that has come to explain the indifference with which LASEPA and KAI officials saddled with the responsibility of supervising the state's environment is treating the issue. What is common these days in metropolitan Lagos is that the teeming population are now defecating indiscriminately and indecently at all spots and places, including the suburb areas, without battling an eyelid.
Daily Trust findings revealed that day-in day-out, residents in Lagos who involved in this shameful act increases by the day. Some on the Lagos Island had continued unabashedly to discharge faeces on the lagoon and canals openly. Epidemic of most destructive potency have thus been averted simply for divine intervention than for other reasons being celebrated by LASEPA and KAI.
For instance, for passengers going to Lagos Island through Funsho Williams, around Constain and the large waste land enclosing the National Theatre remains the area they would not want to see. So also is under the Carter Bridge , Ijora Bridge , the Bar Beach protection line, under Oworonshoki Bridge , Ogudu Bridge , Obalende motor garage and other places in the city.
Findings further revealed that these places have come to harbor quite a number of shameless and homeless Lagosians that have lost all sense of decency. Daily, this lot unabatedly exposes their buttocks while discharging faeces at various spots in the mentioned places.
Devoid of shame, this category of residents in Lagos stoops in their teens, ungird their trousers or native dress and undies and excrete openly. Commuters who always have not been able to withstand the crude indiscretion of these residents have had to, out of embarrassment, close their eyes to avoid seeing them. From the outer most parts of the city to its hinterland, the story remains the same. The Agbado-Iddo Railway line is duly infested, so it was for the gutters nearby.
A business man on Lagos Island, Mr. Wahab Oriola who reacted to the shameful act of some of the residents in the city responded thus: "It is indeed a shame that despite the state government activities to rebrand Lagos , some residents would be excreting anywhere the way they are doing. Decency demands that on being pressed, an adult should seek out a closet to answer nature's call."
Oriola argued that the poisoning effect of bad defecating habit is not been taking seriously in Lagos and other parts of the country saying an average trader and hawker has general dirty habit. "The fact remains that if human faeces are not properly managed, it will have an overbearing effect of impacting on the general health profile of the residents", he said.
Reacting to the findings, the Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Town Planner Francisco Abosede admitted there are some dirty Lagosians who will not bother to excrete at any available open space but he said quite some petrol stations have heeded the directive to build two public toilets in their domain. "They are complying with the directive. What you should do is to go and investigate if members of the public who got pressed along the way ever bothered to make use of these toilets? He said.
But, the Commissioner for Environment, Dr. Muiz Banire in his reaction said KAI was doing its best as regards environmental sanitation across the state but he said the agency was in short of human resources to tackle sanitation of the city. He added that if the agency efforts to ensure clean and healthy environment could be effective, about 100,000 KAI officials will be needed.
Meanwhile, informed opinions of members of the public have drawn conclusive pictures of horrifying danger if something less drastic is done to arrest the habit. Investigations revealed that some factors seem to have led to this.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2009 Daily Trust. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
