By Abdulrahman Abdullahi
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It has become apparent that many Africa countries face the challenge of improper sanitation and inconvenient toilet. This unfortunate condition results in the use of different ways of disposing human waste. One that is common in Nigerian towns is called Flying Toilet.
A flying toilet is a facetious name for a plastic bag that is used as a simple collection device for human faeces. When there is a lack of proper toilets, people are forced to practise open defecation. The filled and tied plastic bags are then discarded in ditches or on the roadsides, or simply thrown as far away as possible.
Piles of polyethene bags are on roofs and attract flies. Some of them burst open upon impact and/or clog drainage systems. If they land on fractured water pipes, a drop in water pressure can cause the contents to be sucked into the water system.
People can also be hit by the bags as they are blindly tossed. In the rainy season, drainage contaminated with excrement can enter residences; some children even swim in it. Such close contact leads to fears of diseases such as diarrhoea, skin disorders, typhoid fever and malaria.
The practice of defecating outside, away from one’s house, especially in the dark, causes concern for one’s personal safety as well, especially among girls and women.
Speaking to a resident of Bakasi, Suleja, Niger state, Abdulrahman Mariam lamented, stating that flying toilet has become famous among the people within the community. She explain, “This had generated community conflict as one neighbor may accuse another of dropping slum, waste and nylons containing human faeces around their surroundings.”
Beside the usual conflict and an uncomfortable environment caused by the flying toilet is the health hazard. Globally, almost 80 percent of the world’s waste water flows back into the ecosystem without proper treatment, meaning almost a quarter of people drink water contaminated with human waste. That incubates deadly diseases, including cholera, dysentery, typhoid and polio.
Anas Muhammed, an environmental health officer with Kogi state environmental agency told NatureNews that “Several non-profit organisations have launched a Stop Flying Toilets campaign in Nigeria as well construction of sanitation blocks [public toilets] with 40,000 to 50,000 residents, thereby reduced clogging in the drainage system and outbreak of cholera and diarrhoea. Also, the government on its own part has created programs to curb the use of flying toilet.”
