The price of neglect and dirty living

The preventable and eradicable disease of cholera is once again affecting many states in the country. Reports from all the regions indicate that hundreds of people have died, while thousands are lying critically ill in hospitals. This “disease of dirty living,” as cholera is often referred to, is a good indicator of the squalor that […]

The preventable and eradicable disease of cholera is once again affecting many states in the country. Reports from all the regions indicate that hundreds of people have died, while thousands are lying critically ill in hospitals. This “disease of dirty living,” as cholera is often referred to, is a good indicator of the squalor that many citizens live in. Almost every year, cholera takes its toll among the populace as the rainy season abates, mostly in communities where poor hygiene is prevalent.

Many cholera cases have been reported in Sokoto, Plateau, Zamfara, Lagos, and many other states. Cholera, an infection of the small intestine caused by a bacterium, has as its main symptoms watery diarrhoea and vomiting. The disease is primarily transmitted by drinking contaminated water or eating food that has been contaminated by the faeces of an infected person. The severity of the diarrhoea and vomiting can lead to rapid dehydration and electrolyte imbalance, and to death in severe cases. The outbreak peaks during the rainy season, as flooding and contaminated water sources worsen the spread. Every year, cholera kills hundreds of thousands of people worldwide, mostly in poor countries where there is prevalence of slums.

According to data from the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC), a total of 4,778 people died of cholera in Nigeria between 2020 and 2024. Within this year alone, 2025, over 300 deaths have been recorded, including the 179 fatalities recorded in Zamfara alone. According to the state government, the fatalities were out of 12,052 suspected cases in the state as of September 2025. In Bauchi, the state government confirmed 58 deaths from 258 new cases across 14 local government areas.

The figures from the NCDC also showed that in 2020, the country recorded 3,513 suspected cases and 95 deaths (5.3 per cent Case Fatality Ratio, CFR). The toll jumped sharply in 2021 with 111,062 suspected cases and 3,604 deaths across 33 states and the Federal Capital Territory. 2021 saw a steep jump in suspected cases to 111,062, including 3,604 deaths (3.2% CFR) from 33 states and the Federal Capital Territory, with children between 5 and 14 years of age most affected. In 2022, the mortality figures dropped to 592, with 2.5% CFR, out of 23,763 suspected cases reported from 32 states and the FCT, with Borno, Yobe, Katsina, Gombe, Taraba, and Kano states recording 83 per cent of all cases. Of the 3,683 suspected cholera cases reported in 2023 in 31 states, 128 deaths (3.5% CFR) were recorded, with children less than five years most affected, followed by those between the ages of 5 and 14. Zamfara accounted for 25% of all suspected cases, while Cross River, Katsina, Bayelsa, Ogun, Ebonyi, and Niger recorded 57%. The numbers rose again in 2024 to 10,837 suspected cases and 359 deaths (3.3% CFR) reported across the 36 states as of September 29, which was the last update by the NCDC on cholera outbreaks for that year. Also, children less than five years of age were most affected, followed by those between the ages of 5 and 14. Lagos recorded 43% of all suspected cases.

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Cholera is perhaps also a symbol of bad governance. Clean water is the basic antidote against the disease. Its provision is always promised by politicians at every electioneering campaign but never delivered when the elections are won. Half a century ago, many municipalities and even rural areas in this country could boast of pipe-borne water. Today, as the nation grew richer, pipe-borne water has almost disappeared, giving way to boreholes which are shamelessly celebrated. And the ubiquitous water hawker, with his plastic containers, has replaced public pipes.

The federal government, in February, launched the National Strategic Plan of Action on Cholera Control (NSPACC) 2025–2029, with a commitment to spend $124m – with an annual budget of $20m – on eradicating cholera in Nigeria through a multi-sectoral approach. The plan also aims to reduce annual cholera incidence and deaths by 90 per cent and lower CFR to below one per cent by 2029.

Daily Trust calls on the government to walk the talk so that this scourge will be eradicated from our society permanently.

For cholera to be eradicated, there first has to be clean water. Citizens must ensure their water and food, especially that which is taken raw, such as fruits and vegetables, are clean. Surroundings must also be kept clean. What this means is that each citizen owes it a responsibility to abide by simple rules of hygiene to stem the prevalence of the disease.

Again, in order to further enhance public hygiene campaigns, sanitary inspectors must return. Many people still defecate in open places, sometimes near sources of water. Whenever the streams swell during the rainy season, such infected waste easily gets carried directly to people who use such water for drinking and cooking. Added to that, there is absence of sewage systems in many cities, while public toilets, dustbins, and incinerators are largely non-existent.

It is indeed sad that cholera still has a devastating effect on Nigeria, taking a number of lives, many of them young simply because we fail to observe basic rules of hygiene and fail to provide that basic necessity, water. This is the time to address and provide a permanent solution to cholera.