By IJEOMA UKAZU
“I go to the school tap every day wishing water would run out from it but each time I try, I get disappointed.
“I have fallen ill several times due to poor sanitation in my school. Even though the Head Mistress says we should bring water to school, we do not do that every day.
“Sometimes when I feel like defecating and not with water, I skip classes, rush to the house to ‘shit’,” says 11-year-old Joseph Gift who narrates the poor Water Sanitation and Hygiene, WASH in her school, Inigbi Primary School Elele, Etsako West, Edo State.
The pupil who is from the community where the school is located told Our Correspondent during an investigation, “I sometimes bring water in a small plastic can. When I want to urinate, I use the water to pour in the toilet and use the same to wash my hands. There is no soap to wash our hands after using the toilet.”
Gift further pointed out that this habit is posing health dangers to children, adding, “Each time I do not use soap, I feel bad because I use those same hands to eat my lunch during break time.”
Another primary six pupil, Adewale Faustina also complained that lack of water in the school is of great concern to her urging the Local Government Chairman to assist in ensuring water is restored and life back to normal.
Faustina lamented that the lack of water exposes her and other pupils in the school to diseases and various forms of infections.
A school teacher named Mrs Zainab Uwugiaren pinpointed the issue and said, “The school tank is connected to the community main water source, so when the water is pumped, it gets to the school. Elele has a faulty transformer leaving the community in blackout and lack of clean water for use.
Corroborating Gift’s report, Uwugiaren said, “We ask pupils to bring water from their homes to school for toilet use. The school initiated that because most times, pupils defecate around school premises. We primarily ask the senior pupils to bring water to school so that younger pupils in primary one, two, and three can flush the toilet after use.”
This makeshift method dates years back when the water system was not in place hence people resorted to all sorts of unhealthy methods to defecate.
Continuing, Uwugiaren recounts that the present water ordeal in Elele primary school was not the case four months ago but regrets the extra burden on pupils and hopes the community transformer is fixed soonest.
The Assistant Head Mistress, Mrs Esther Eboweme who was transferred to the school one month ago is worried about the water issue.
She said, “We went to see the Chairmen of Parents Teacher Association and School-Based Management and they said an alternative water supply would be provided for the school. The duo suggested for the interim, primary six pupils should bring water from their homes to the school until an alternative source is made available.”
Eboweme said as academia, she is concerned for the pupils especially the girl-child who are vulnerable to toilet infections and bemoan the school’s bad WASH system calling for urgent power restoration in the Elele community.
While taking a walk around the School premises, Our Correspondent spotted a primary one pupil who dashed out from her class to urinate in the hallway and rushed back to class afterwards.
The Water Sanitation and Hygiene WASH facility was initiated under the Niger Delta Support Programme of Edo State Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Project and jointly funded by the United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, the European Union, EU, The State government and the community.
While the Elele community is still locked in darkness due to faulty transformers, pupils’ right to clean and sanitation facilities have been denied which goes against the UN Convention on the Right of the Child.
What the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child says
Following the 1989 decree, governments across the world promised all children the same rights by adopting the United Nations Convention. The Convention says what countries must do so that all children grow as healthy as possible, can learn at school, are protected, have their views listened to, and are treated fairly.
A snippet into the UN passport on children’s right, Article 24 says, “Every child has the right to the best possible standard of health and medical care, to clean water, nutritious food and clean safe environment in which to live.”
According to UNICEF, the consequences of unsafe water, sanitation and hygiene on children can be deadly. Over 700 children under age five die every day of diarrhoeal diseases due to the lack of appropriate WASH services globally.
In Nigeria, a UNICEF 2021 report says, at least 70,000 Nigerian children under the age of five die every year due to poor access to WASH services.
Community Challenges
During an interview with the Head of Department, Water Sanitation and Hygiene, Etsako West, Mr Oyarevuegbe Shaibu, he said, “This is the kind of situation we found ourselves in. For instance, when an electricity transformer goes bad, the consumer whose duty is not to buy a new transformer is made to contribute money for that purpose. Afterwards, he is expected to pay the electricity bill.
“The Edo State Distribution company has insisted that for the community to have power, they must first replace the spoilt transformer.”
Presently, Etsako West WASH team is appealing to both parties to sheath their swords in order to resolve the issue while appealing to indigent individuals to assist the community, stressing that the situation is exposing these children to disease.
He said, “Aside from reading during the day, I do not see how these children can read at night due to the power issue.”
An action plan
“The initiative of bringing water to school is archaic but the authorities just want to ensure that the toilet area is always kept clean,” says Mrs Mercy Omoregie, General Manager, Small Town and Rural Water and Sanitation Agency, Edo State.
She says the challenge with the water has been well noted and actions will spring up to address the issues in the shortest possible time.
“As an agency, we would intervene and also see how we can have talks with BEDC. It is not within our purview to give the community a transformer. STRUWASSA will follow up with the HOD WASHCOM in Etsako West.