Okwe Obi
Abuja is, unarguably, a beautify city. Good buildings, clean and expansive roads, exciting trees and flowers dotting every corner of the capital city.
However, that beauty is increasingly being threatened by faeces which are found in open places across the city.
For instance, at Area 10, just before Agura Hotel, by the right, the open space has become an eyesore. Walking into the open space is welcome by stench coming from heaps of piece of faeces that are in every nook and cranny of the place.
Strolling towards Apo Bridge, few metres away from Area 3 just before the bridge, the situation is not different. The space where a transformer is kept has become a toilet for touts.
At Mabushi, close to the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing, road users must cover their nose before passing the area. The grass planted to enhance the aesthetic of the area is competing with faeces. Even the gutter that demarcate the bridge and the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing is not spared.
The situation seems worse at Berger Junction, a short distance from Sky Memorial Plaza. The open land looks like a farm; a walk into the place would clearly show that it has been turned into a public toilet.
Daily Sun investigation shows that the act is mostly perpetrated in the evening and early hours of the morning mostly by petty traders, wheel barrow pushers, lay-about and touts. To add salt to injury, public buildings are not spared, especially those without occupants.
A civil servant, Adamu Kabiru, said the act is not likely to stop until public toilets were made available at strategic locations .
He said “If you look around, you can hardly find public toilet. I am a civil servant I know what we go through at the Secretariat. I can tell you that not every office has a good toilet. It is either there is a toilet or there is a toilet without water. The only way we can arrest the situation is for the government to provide toilet.”
But a businessman, Emeka Ogbonna thinks differently. For him, government should go after the perpetrators. He argued that unless defaulters were punished, the act is unlikely to stop.
“Even if toilets are built and stationed everywhere some people may still be engaging in this . What I think we need to do is to step up education of the public on the need to stop open deification,” Ogbonna insisted.
A recharge card seller who identified himself as John, said he would have desisted from the act if he had enough money to pay for public toilets anytime he was pressed.
“I am just a recharge card seller. I do not make enough gains. So I cannot pay for a public toilet. Besides, how long do I need to pay before making use of public toilet? If the government wants Abuja to regain its beauty, they should provide public toilet and make it affordable.”
A civil servant, Mr. Peter Brown, blamed those who do not own shops as the perpetrators
“If you check very well, it is people who do not own shops that go to bush to do all the nonsense. Another cause is that some of us leave our houses in the morning and go back in the evening. So you don’t expect us to run home each time we are pressed,” he noted.
A commercial driver, Etta Alphonso, said the nature of his job does not give him time to use a private toilet. He boldly admitted he engages in open defecation describing it as the only his only option.
“Open defecation is interesting and easier. I like making use of the bush.”
His response shows that he does not care about the effect of open defecation.
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