By UDEME NANA

Last Saturday, August 27, the heavens opened and rain descended across Akwa Ibom State.

It was a cold and wet day, but Ikot Akpan Nkuk, headquarters of Ukanafun Local Government Council, one of the pioneer local government Areas in the Oil rich Akwa Ibom state braved the downpour to host the commissioning of modern public conveniences donated by an indigene of the area for use by workers in the Council. Although erroneously described as “ultra modern”, what was commissioned cannot by any standard be termed “ultra modern” because what would pass as ultra-modern toilets now do not use water; they are digitally operated and faeces and urine disappear as the user leaves the toilet seat. These are used in smart buildings where everything is controlled digitally.

The dignitaries at the commissioning included Mr Moses Ekpo, deputy Governor of the state, traditional rulers, Mr Udeme Ufot, one of the leading Advertising practitioners in the country, Barr. Aniekan Ukpanah, Managing Partner and Head of Banking & Finance practice, Udo Udoma & Bello-Osagie law firm, Lagos, Rt. Hon Aniekan Umanah, Member House of Representatives, Barr Emmanuel Enoidem, former National Legal adviser of the Peoles Democratic Party and Senatorial Candidate of the party in the district, and a bevy of Political Chieftains from the environs.

The building housing the public conveniences was donated by Mr. Ekan Ukpanah, President, Nung Ukpanah family Union to the National Union of Local government employees (NULGE), Ukanafun Chapter.

The Donor was worried about the non-existence of such a facility in the work environment of a local government headquarters which had been in existence for more than forty years.

“As an environmentalist, I know the importance of public conveniences, and as a town planner, I can’t approve permits for buildings without such facilities,” He stated while speaking at the occasion. In his address, the Deputy Governor popularly called Uncle MO, described the public conveniences as a vital facility.

He said the existence in the council premises would encourage seriousness at work by the Staff, observing that “nobody now has any excuse to abscond from work”. Uncle MO further stated that the contribution will promote efficiency at work, improve sanitation apart from checking truancy, adding that it wasn’t a flimsy excuse to go to the toilet. The Deputy Governor paid tribute to the Ukpanah family for sustaining the legacy started by their forbears recalling that it was the late Barr. Asuquo Ukpanah who led the chase for the creation of the local Government Council and while his younger brother, the late Obong Senator Akaninyene Ukpanah served as its pioneer Chairman.

But no sooner than the news spread that the Deputy Governor attended the event in person to commission the facilities, hell was let loose in condemnation of the Deputy Governor for lending the weight of his big office to the commissioning of ‘toilets’

Dean Evergreen screamed: “In this era, people are still commissioning toilets.. The D. Governor is not even ashamed to be engaged in such scrimmage.”

Celestine Mel, an Abuja based public affairs commentator was aghast and fumed 'Where did NULGE folks in Ukanafun go to answer the call of nature all these years? The bushes? We play too much in this country.”

He wrote: “In 2022, when Elon Musk is finalizing preparation to relocate some folks to Mars on a one-way ticket; when his the constellation of Starlink satellites is set to beam high-speed wireless internet to the remotest corners of the earth from space; when Dubai has already launched the first metropolitan drone taxi service; when MTN is rolling out 5G wireless internet to most urban centers in Nigeria; when speed trains are connecting European capitals at 350 km/h; when cars are about to migrate from dependence on fossil fuels to renewables; when the wealth of nations are no longer measured by the size of their natural resources but the depth of their knowledge base, we in our dear state are holding intellectual discussions about the propriety or otherwise of commissioning modern toilets in a local government council by the deputy governor.”

Someone in tandem with Celestine Mel complained in the following words: “There is nothing ‘ENGLISH’ will not do to us. Imagine from “toilet” to “convenience”!

Those who made so much fuss about the commissioning of those basic facilities may have forgotten that provision of such facilities aligned with one of the items of the millennium development goals (MDG’s) and its successor program, the Sustainable development goals SDG’s which has good health, well being and sanitation as important concerns.

But the critics met their match in another Public Affairs commentator, Vincent Aluu, who pooh-poohed their vituperation.

Vincent responded: “Shit business is a very serious business that some Nigerians don’t want to talk about. But there is no one that does not do shit business in their homes.”

Aluu argued: “The hard truth is: shit exists because we produce it. It’s a natural consequence of the things we eat and for as long as we exist, shit always will! And like all the other tons of waste we produce everyday (including garbage), someone has to get rid of it or else our environment will be impossible to live in.”

According to him, “The way we think of toilets must undergo a fundamental shift if we are to see meaningful progress. We must put the user experience front and centre. A young girl experiencing good smelling and safe toilets will grow into a woman who will appreciate and ensure that she provides a similar experience to her family, and will expect it as a right.”

In further justification, he alluded to the fact that Nigeria had become the number one open defecation nation globally passing India.

Aluu quipped: “How Nigeria overtook India is a matter of serious concern,” noting that India has a population of 1.353 billion people and 3.287 million km2 land area, against Nigeria’s estimated 200 million people and 923,769km2 land area.

According to Aluu, “'Apart from bringing a negative social stigma to Nigeria, which is touted as the Giant of Africa and the most populous black nation in the world, open defecation also poses obvious environmental, health and economic problems for Nigeria and its nationals. It pollutes the environment and exposes children and adults to critical health problems like diarrhoea (hence leading to untimely deaths).”

To solve this problem of open defecation and inadequate toilet facilities, that writer noted “there is a need for collaboration between the government at all levels and relevant agencies.”

The Public Affairs analyst urged organisations like banks, oil, insurance and manufacturing companies to donate latrines/toilets where needed across the nation as part of their corporate social responsibility (CSR).

Etido Ibekwe, a Medical Doctor, while underscoring the importance of public conveniences stated that ‘emptying of bowels is actually an involuntary action by the peristaltic movement of the intestines. Once the descending colon is full, the urge to defecate comes naturally. However, if this urge is controlled habitually by the individual, it predisposes to constipation. The resultant effect of this to the body is that of retaining toxins that would otherwise have been excreted & expelled from the body. When toxins are retained, it predisposes to ailments that can lead to liver & kidney failures or other organ failure’. In a society consumed by poverty and superstition and without adequate medical facilities, who knows how many people from that area have died from complications arising from their inability to empty their bowels as at and when they had the urge?

The provision of the modern public conveniences at Ikot Akpan Nkuk, Ukanafun by an indigene, Ekan Ukpanah and the Deputy Governor lending the weight of his big office to the formal commissioning of the facilities may not have been well received by a section of the people but it shows the love of one privileged indigene for his people. The concerned citizen , Ekan Ukpanah, met a felt need of the local Government employees Union and as Barr. Emmanuel Enoidem, former National Legal Adviser of the Peoples Democratic Party highlighted “the provision of the public conveniences and it's official commissioning “signposts the evolution from outright open and indiscriminate defecation, using the bush and pit latrines by our people.”

There is a possibility that there are hundreds of local Council headquarters in Nigeria, public schools, offices, places of worship, marketplaces, shopping malls, motor parks and health facilities lacking in such critical infrastructure.

This little but vital contribution by Ekan Ukpanah shows that well to do individuals can do whatever they could to help their communities and not just stand, stare and complain. On the whole, this writer wonders about what was racing through the minds of the political leaders who gathered to witness the event since some of them had occupied high positions of responsibility in that local Council, at the state and national level. The event was attended by the cream of the political class in the local Government Area and their friends from other places. What isn't clear to this writer is whether those among them who served as Chairmen of the Local Government Council previously were proud of themselves on that occasion.

•Dr Udeme Nana is the Founder, Uyo Book Club and the leading promoter of the Book Club initiative in Akwa Ibom State.

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