ELVIS EROMOSELE argues for increased investment in toilet infrastructure at all levels

If you have crossed the overhead bridge along the Alausa/Magodo Expressway recently, you may have noticed a bold sign squarely sitting on the median. It reads both in English and Yoruba: “Do not urinate or defecate here. Offenders will be prosecuted.” The message is stern. But what is even more striking is that such a sign is needed at all, right in the heart of Lagos, the nation’s commercial capital.

To the discerning, the sign is more than a warning; it is a mirror. It is a mirror that reflects the uncomfortable truth of our sanitation reality: open defecation remains an unresolved challenge in Nigeria.

November 19 marks World Toilet Day 2025, under the theme “We’ll Always Need the Toilet.” So it is an excellent time for reflecting upon what that sign represents. To my mind, it’s a story of infrastructure or the lack thereof. It also tells a story about behaviour, about dignity, and about the complexities of sanitation in a fast-growing, climate-stressed nation.

For many, however, open defecation is simply the result of inadequate toilet facilities. Today, millions of Nigerians across rural communities, riverine areas, and even into certain parts of major cities lack functional toilets. At other places, public toilets are out of reach, poorly maintained, or too expensive to use. Where the nearest functional, clean toilet is kilometres away, the environment becomes an unfortunate fallback option.

Yet infrastructure only tells half the story. There is also a strong behavioural dimension. Not only do many households lack toilets, but even when toilets exist in communities, they may go unused. There are deep-rooted practices, weak sanitation culture, misconceptions about public toilets, and low awareness about hygiene. Quite sadly, some people simply prefer open spaces, having grown up in environments where toilets were either lacking or inadequate.

It’s a big, circular problem. We need more toilets, yes, but we equally need people to use and maintain those already available. It calls for dual responsibility.

All this brings us back to this year’s theme for World Toilet Day: “We’ll Always Need the Toilet.” Simple in phrasing, almost self-evident in concept, but carrying a depth of meaning. No matter how fast the world urbanises, no matter how fast our population grows, no matter how fast climate change worsens, the toilet will always be needed. Healthy societies depend on toilets. The environment depends on toilets. Above all, human dignity depends on toilets.

Ending open defecation is a necessary step forward for the country. It requires urgent and sustained action.

First, we must build more toilets. There is a genuine need for an increase in public toilets in our markets, schools, bus stops, motor parks, and densely populated areas. It is not enough to have toilets. These toilets have to be accessible, affordable, clean, safe, and have proper connections for disposing of waste. A dirty toilet, after all, is just as bad as no toilet.

However, along with the construction of toilets, we must invest deeply in education. Here, I’m thinking of the creation of continuous awareness among Nigerians on why open defecation is dangerous, how diseases spread, why toilets must be maintained, and why ownership of sanitation spaces by every community is necessary.

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