On Wednesday, October 30 and Thursday, October 31, 2019, WASH experts drawn from the African continent, selected government delegations and non-state actors in Nigeria met at the Rockview Hotel in Abuja for a 2-day dissemination workshop hosted by WaterAid Nigeria.

The 2-day event tagged, “National Dissemination Workshop on Context Analysis Study of Urban Sanitation in 3 Nigerian Cities – Enugu, Kano and Warri” was focused on the analysis of the institutional and legislative framework; description of the existing sanitation situations in the cities; establishing the existing businesses opportunities in the sanitation sector; past and current interventions by different stakeholders; and evaluation of existing opportunities for financing in the sanitation sector.

The study was carried out in the metropolis of Enugu State, the capital of Kano State and Warri region of Delta state; the analysis spotlight urban sanitation in these three Nigerian Cities and provides a fairly nationally representative report of the sanitation situation in the country. Commissioned by WaterAid Nigeria under the leadership of the Country Director, Chichi Okoye and carried out by Mangrove & Partners under the coordination of the Principal Investigator, Timeyin Uwejamomere.

Making a presentation, Mr Alaba Kelani, the Research Coordinator for Warri, Delta State identified the unwillingness and inability of households to pay evacuators for sustainable sanitation management. He equally pointed out the absence of official sites, forcing the evacuators to dispose of waste in unofficial sites.

On her part, Mrs. Titilola Bright-Oridami, the Research Coordinator for Kano, Kano State, pointed out that sanitation in Kano is basically private sector driven. The North Central region is responsible for 53.9% of open defecation in Nigeria, with Kano State owning 10.3% with a daily production of 503, 206 litres of faecal sludge, whereas only 17% safely disposed of. As a recommendation, Mrs. Bright-Oridami posited that Government should provide funds, land and other contributions towards an enabling environment. She also pointed out the need to train and build the capacity of actors to international standards.

In Enugu, the poor input and reluctance by designated MDAs saddled with sanitation responsibility have caused the greatest harm to efforts in addressing Faecal Sludge Management. The Research Coordinator for Enugu, Mr. Lookman Oshodi called for increased awareness about the problems and structural set up to integrate more active participation by local governments.

At the close of the workshop, key recommendations were drawn, some of which includes; there is a need to set up sanitation fund to promote Faecal Sludge Management (FSM) enterprises; there should be national policy harmonisation emphasizing the roles of local government through strong monitoring and evaluation; and welcoming active participation of private sectors and civil society groups.

By ‘Seyifunmi Adebote