PROPERTY TRANSACTION GUIDE

Toilet Queues Call Attention To Water, Sanitation Shortages
Stories by Michael Simire , Property & Environment Editor

Independent, Sunday 11th April 2010

As part of activities to commemorate this year’s World Water Day (WWD 2010), WaterAid Nigeria in collaboration with the Water Supply Sanitation and Collaborative Council (WSSCC) and members of the End Water Poverty Campaign (EWPC) a week ago on Saturday, March 20 joined the rest of the world in organising the World’s Longest Toilet Queue (WLTQ). The main event took place at Wuse Market in Abuja, the Federal Capital City.

An official of the Federal Capital Territory Environmental Protection Board, Thorny Efedi, officially opened the event, which WaterAid Nigeria and partners used to call attention to the plight of millions of Nigerians who still do not have access to safe water and safe sanitation.

It was an opportunity to drive home the need for people to maintain good sanitation standards and to adopt good hygiene practices, submitted WaterAid officials.

Members of the EWPC coalition include international development partners and civil society organisations working in partnership with government to support national efforts to help greater numbers of people attain sustainable access to basic sanitation and safe water.

Over 5,000 participants joined the queue and signed up their support in Abuja. Participants included students from the School for the Physically Challenged in Kuje, members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) and all categories of people who visited Wuse market on that day. Musicians and local dance troupes were on ground to entertain the public and draw attention to the queue.

G-CAP, an international campaign organisation and a key member of the EWPC in Nigeria, also organised the queue in Oyo, Lagos and Ekiti states. Prior to the event, a media forum was organised to share the primary purpose of the WLTQ and drive home the message of basic sanitation and safe water for poor Nigerians.

Over 30,000 school children and physically challenged people formed queues and demanded improved sanitation in Bauchi State, where the Ministry of Education and the Local Government Education Board mobilised 50 primary and secondary schools to participate in the WLTQ. The event was organised by WaterAid in collaboration with other organisations such as the Bauchi State Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) office, Network for Water and Sanitation (NEWSAN) and Challenge Your Disability Initiative. The event recorded extensive media coverage, with radio jingles and discussion programmes aired in local languages.

A local drama group was present to entertain participants and also pass across key sanitation and hygiene messages. Members of Civil Society Organisations present advocated for increased latrines with inclusive components in schools and public places.

NYSC members also took part in the event, which was organised during the orientation programme of Batch A, 2010 Corps members on the WWD at the camp ground in Kubwa, Abuja.

NYSC Programme Director, Mrs. Ifeanyi Odimkpa, expressed delight over the organisation’s participation. "It is an important occasion for us to call attention to the need for basic sanitation and hygiene practices in the orientation camp," she said.

About 3,000 corps members are currently undergoing the orientation programme in Abuja.