As COVID‑19 swept the globe, bringing deaths and lockdowns, governments introduced measures to curb its spread and that of other diseases. In Lagos State, public health guidelines mandated hand‑washing facilities, especially in public schools. Three years later, SODIQ OJUROUNGBE reports that many of these schools have abandoned the life‑saving installations and now house disease‑breeding toilets that lack even basic water supply.
Tolani Adeoye (a pseudonym), a senior secondary student at Ajumoni Senior Secondary School, describes a daily routine she has followed for four years to avoid the school’s three toilets. She defecates at home before leaving, fearing the “sordid, filthy” state of the restrooms. According to Adeoye, the ceramic bowls are constantly filled with urine and feces, emitting a horrible odor because there is no water to flush them. Although a cleaner is assigned to maintain the facilities, the toilets remain in a deplorable condition. “The toilets are so bad that I will never ever enter them. Even if you are passing by, the stench will make you hold your breath and run away,” she told our correspondent. She added that most students share her aversion and prefer to wait until they get home to use a restroom.
Ajumoni’s situation is not isolated. Healthwise’s investigation found that several public schools in Lagos suffer from poor sanitation and low hygiene standards. Students lack access to running water for flushing and hand‑washing, forcing many to defecate in the open. Nigeria already has a high prevalence of open defecation; the WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme identifies 25 %–50 % of the population as practicing it. Target 6.2 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals calls for an end to open defecation and equitable access to sanitation, especially for women and girls who face additional health risks. The WHO recommends at least 15 litres of water per person during disease outbreaks, while the CDC warns that inadequate sanitation contaminates the environment and heightens infection risk.
Behind the outwardly clean appearance of many Lagos public schools lie “eyesore” toilets that are dehumanising and pose serious public‑health threats. Overstretched infrastructure contributes to the problem: the facilities lack water supply and basic hand‑washing items. The Universal Basic Education Commission’s 2018 National Personnel Audit highlighted the importance of school toilets for hygiene, health, attendance and dropout reduction, yet found that 50 % of public primary schools lack toilets, compared with 85 % of private schools.
Visits to Eko Boys Secondary School (Mushin) and Adeleye Nursery and Primary School revealed filthy, excreta‑lined toilets with broken flushes, missing seat covers and doors held together by rusted nails. In the latter school, pupils were seen urinating in a corner of the compound because the student toilets were abandoned due to lack of water. When asked to use a pupil toilet, the correspondent was redirected to a partially clean staff restroom. A student, speaking anonymously, explained that teachers sometimes allow pupils to go home to defecate, noting, “My house is not far from the school. Whenever I want to defecate, I will be allowed to go home. It is only the teachers’ toilets that are manageable and we are not allowed in there. We have abandoned our toilets because there is no water supply.”
Similar conditions were reported at Community Junior Secondary School, Sokunbi Primary School and Eko Boys Junior High School. In some schools, a handful of toilets serve thousands of students. For example, Army Children School in Abule‑Egba has over 1,000 pupils, 23 teachers and 13 non‑teaching staff, yet only three toilets are available for the entire school population.
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