This is a norm in most public places in Nigeria including private places. The toilet is supposed to be kept very clean and hygiene not otherwise. It is time we take matters seriously and proper actions taken starting with these fast food restaurants. This embarrassment has to stop, we need cleaner and more hygienic toilets around.
Please enjoy reading this:
THE MIRACLE OF THE TOILET
The University of
Nigeria, the first indigenous university in Nigeria, and certainly one of the
most prestigious. With all the accolades and the impressive motto – “To
restore the dignity of man”, a first time visitor might not be blamed for
having high expectations.
However the
reality at the Nsukka campus where I am studying electronic engineering is
quite sorrowful. I could write
volumes on the many problems plaguing the school but I will touch on one in
particular, one that students can do
nothing to avoid – the toilets.
Before I first
arrived at the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN), I thought I knew what a
dirty toilet was, even if I had not seen the worst, then I could at least
imagine it. But now, after my first year of study at UNN, I have finally
been convinced that it can be very dangerous to be over confident in one’s own
opinion. No matter how solid I felt my opinion was, witnessing the miracle
of how the toilets in school which by far surpassed my
wildest imaginations of a filthy toilet somehow managed to get worse was enough
to convince me that I needed
to keep an open mind (and blocked nostrils).
Never before in my
life have I been afraid of using a toilet, irritated? Yes, disgusted?
Certainly, but never afraid. So it was a totally new experience for me
when I was granted the opportunity to witness the miracle of the toilet as
it occurred at my hostel of residence.
Eating at some
point became a problem, because I realized that as long as food goes in, then
inevitably something just has to come out too. Anytime this dreaded call
of nature came, it was met with a heavy heart and so after preparations,
good well wishes from roommates I traversed the now seemingly long (not
to forget dirty) corridors with as brave a face as I could put up as I
went to face my fate. From a few metres away from the toilet a slightly stronger
aroma than the one around the rest of the hostel filled the air.
Within the toilet, with limited oxygen, I had to quickly choose the deep
blue sea over the devil in the form of a dirty toilet over dirtier ones.
Tiptoe, tiptoe… to select the least urine flooded part of the floor and hope
that my footwear would be enough protection for my feet.
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| Totally Opposite this! |
I cannot do
justice with words to the contents of each cubicle. Let it suffice for me to
say that each water closet represents a unique ecosystem comprising simple
micro-organisms, insects and occasionally rats. Several boys, unable to
manage, settle for the surrounding bushes. Some others manage the toilet but
insist on taking a bath immediately after. Neither of these has ever
appealed to me. These days though, the bush is looking nicer and nicer. As
for taking baths, I have always considered it a second evil. I will reserve the
story of the bathrooms for another day.
In conclusion, I
would like to extend an invitation to anyone looking for something extreme to
do. Since we don’t bungee
jumping, sky diving or similar things in Nigeria a few weeks with the UNN
toilets are sure to
push you to the
edge.
Ekene Umeike
9th November 2004
