How we invited cholera

Fifteen states in the country are reported by the UN to have been affected by the cholera epidemic. They include Yobe, Adamawa, Abia, Sokoto, Gombe, Benue, Oyo, Osun, Bauchi, Kano, Kogi, Plateau and Jigawa States. Statistics released by the World Health Organization (WHO) reveal that the highest death tolls were in the northern states of […]

Fifteen states in the country are reported by the UN to have been affected by the cholera epidemic. They include Yobe, Adamawa, Abia, Sokoto, Gombe, Benue, Oyo, Osun, Bauchi, Kano, Kogi, Plateau and Jigawa States. Statistics released by the World Health Organization (WHO) reveal that the highest death tolls were in the northern states of Borno, Katsina and Bauchi. There were also cases in the southern states of Rivers and Cross-river. Health authorities believe that heavy rains and flooding in rural areas where safe drinking water and sanitary facilities are scarce further fuelled the cholera outbreak; which normally spreads through food and water contaminated with bacteria.

In many villages in Nigeria, sewage flows down dirt paths during the rainy season, allowing feaces to contaminate streams, rivers and wells. Most Nigerians are rural dwellers. Nigerians who live in rural communities still drink water from the same source with their domestic animals. Almost half of the country’s 150 million people lack access to clean water even though government earns billions of dollars annually as one of Africa’s top crude oil exporter; a blessing that has rather been turned into a curse for Nigerians through bad governance orchestrated over the years by wicked leaders.

If an estimated 77 million people in Nigeria representing 55 percent of the population, lack access to safe drinking water; that seems, in the opinion of this column to be an official invitation from Nigerian leaders for cholera to take its toll on the lives of those who live on less than one US dollar per day. With the less complex procedures in water technology and with two major rivers (Niger and Benue) along with their tributaries passing through the country into the Atlantic Ocean, leaders in Nigeria fall short of any credible reasons to justify limited access of Nigerians to clean water.

Streets in Nigerian towns and cities including many state capitals are flooded with water vendors who sell water in jerry cans carried and pushed around in trucks. It is highly regrettable that basic necessities of life including water, which people in other parts of the world take for granted, have become privileges in Nigeria. The refusal by government to make safe water accessible to Nigerians suggests her un-readiness to improve upon the lives of Nigerians. This implicitly jeopardizes the thrust of National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS) aimed at reducing the “disease burden” attributable to water-borne infections.

Deplorable pit-latrines as well as poor toilet and sanitary habits combine to help cholera thrive especially in rural communities of Nigeria. The health risk of exposure to cholera will largely be reduced if public health workers (who were known in 1960s and 1970s as dubagari in the northern part of Nigeria) would adequately be empowered by government to do their work as well as educate citizens, particularly rural dwellers on personal hygiene. Public education is better facilitated through cinema and information vans. The local government I come from, like most local government councils in the country, does not have an information or cinema van. The radio stations of many states of the federation have equally been out of use for several years; making it even difficult to reach out to residents whenever there is a cholera epidemic.

Improper management of waste is another “special” way of inviting cholera to ravage both rural and urban communities of Nigeria. Waste management is seen by governments in Nigeria as a burden rather too heavy to be handled. Survival in urban towns and cities today is characterized by a lifestyle that encourages the consumption of packaged foods and canned drinks which increases the rate of waste generation. Twenty-first century Nigeria is a sachet-water (otherwise called pure water) generation, which main source of drinking water is the sachet-water. Today, neighborhoods and streets are littered with water sachets, packets and tins. The heap of waste at some refuse dump sites is sometimes higher than a one-storey building, which is not only hazardous to the health of residents within the area but also a causative agent of cholera and other infectious diseases. Here again, we are compelled to sadly lament over state and local governments failure in environmental sanitation matters.

We find it amazing that some state governors through the celebrated “joint account” funds consider it important to purchase jeeps and other service cars as official and utility vehicles for local government chairmen but consider it unnecessary to purchase one unit of a refuse disposal truck that will safe-guard the entire local government community against water and air-borne diseases. But even then, must a local government chairman (if we may ask) wait until the state governor provides such for the use of the people he claims to be leading or rather ruling?

I know that the local government I come from in Niger State, like most local governments in the country, does not have even refuse collection bins or containers, not to talk of a waste disposal truck. It would be a strange tale today to talk about street cleaners in many local governments areas in Nigeria. Of course, many chairmen would rather prefer to spend the money meant for waste disposal equipments on their political aides and thugs. To most Nigerian politicians, paying redundant political aides and thugs is better than employing cleaners and sanitary workers.

We call on our leaders in the executive and legislative arms of government to enact and enforce laws that will bring back the good old days of the dubagaris. Necessary working tools should be provided by government through relevant public agencies. “Cleanliness”, they say “is Godliness”. The prophet (SAW) also said that “cleanliness is a half of a man’s faith (in God). May Allah (SWT) direct our leaders to see leadership as a responsibility, trust and service to humanity; and to also guide them away from inviting cholera through their inactions, amin.

Re: Prostitution: What Ekweremadu forgot to add

We publish below few of the several reactions received from readers who responded to the topic under reference via the GSM number dedicated to this column. They are reproduced as received (regardless errors) along with the sender’s GSM number to give readers a right of response.

“Mr. Ndagi, I just read your dogmatic column on prostitution. You forgot something; Nigeria is neither an Islamic nor Christian state and it can never be. We follow secular constitution. So please spare us the Qur’anic and Biblical verses. Let Ekweremadu do his job. (08154408993)

“Mal Ndagi. You are not being fair to the senator. How many times do you want him to say that he did not say so, neither does he mean so. You members of press {sic} put those words to {sic} his mouth out of mischief and reputing {sic} it is as good as wiping it off our minds and books. There are more important issues to take on”. (08023012457)

“Salam alaykum. Thanks for speaking the mind of… Please also note that the senator hails from Enugu and not Anambra state” Zubairu Usman, Nsukka, Enugu State (08087756439).