Despite rising cases of Cholera, Kano schools fail to take preventive measures
Despite the rising cases of cholera across Nigeria, some public schools in Kano are yet to implement any preventive measures against the life-threatening disease.
Speaking during a recent press briefing, Nigeria’s Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, Professor Joseph Utsev warned against a potential cholera outbreak as 31 states are at risk of heavy flooding.
Also, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention said the country has recorded 1,528 suspected cases of cholera and 53 deaths in 31 states across 107 Local Government Areas.
However, a visit to some of the schools in the Kano metropolis shows lack of any preventive measures against cholera, making children so vulnerable to the deadly disease.
No clean water, toilets for students
SolaceBase visited six public schools in the Kano metropolis and discovered that the schools have no access to clean drinking water as their boreholes look dry, making their toilets terribly dirty.
The schools visited include Government Secondary School Stadium, Government Girls Senior Secondary School Kawaji, Government Secondary School Dabo, Dangana Government Senior Secondary School, Government College Kano, and Tudun Murtala Special Primary School.
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The toilets in these schools are very dirty, forcing male students to answer the call of nature in open places and for girls to squat down in the dirty toilets and urinate or defecate when the need arises.
The situation of the toilets has made the places very terrible to go with offensive smells greeting one’s nose.
Caption: Government Secondary School Stadium. Photo: Uzair Adam
Students not aware of cholera outbreak
Some of the students who spoke to the SolaceBase denied knowledge of the disease with some among them knowing the word for the first time.
Musa Ibrahim (not his real name) from the GSS Stadium said he knew the word but did not know what the disease is all about.
He added that, “Our toilets are very dirty. As a result, we opt for open places to answer the call of nature. There is no water in the school to even wash the toilets, let alone hand sanitisers to clean our hands.”
Another student from GSS Dabo, Mustapha Jibril (also not his real name), stated that there was no effort by the school to prevent the students from the dangerous disease.
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A female student from Kawaji told our reporter that she once heard about the disease but didn’t know its implications, adding that, “So, on my part, I do whatever it takes to protect my life. However, the condition of our toilets is very dangerous to our health.”
A boy from Tudun Murtala Primary School said he didn’t know about cholera and he often urinates and defecates in an open place because the toilets are very dirty.
Concerns
A mother, Hafsat Shu’aibu, decried the development as terrible, saying that it is the responsibility of the school to ensure that their kids are safe as they, as parents, do their best at home to protect their kids.
“It is heart-wrenching the way the toilets in the schools look like. This is not healthy at all and the school should know that it is their responsibility to take care of that to ensure that these kids are not affected.
“We as parents at home do our best. But all this will be in vain since there is no clean water and toilets for the students, let alone sanitisers to help prevent their health.”
Photo caption: Toilets at Government Secondary School Dabo
However, a teacher from Kawaji, who pleaded for anonymity, said the burden is too much for the schools to take because of the financial constraints.
“It is the responsibility of the government to provide schools with all these sanitisers you are talking about. And mostly our toilets are not clean enough because of the lack of water.
“Just imagine in a big school like this how many trucks shall we buy every day? It is too much for us. The government should please intervene, more importantly, to ensure this disease has not spread a lot,” he added.
Speaking with SolaceBase about the development, Sulaiman Ahmad, a public affairs analyst, said the government should not fold its hands waiting for something terrible to happen before taking action.
Ahmad lamented that sometimes an awfully bad event may be predicted, but instead of taking preventive measures, the government will wait for it to happen so they can write a large budget for it, thereby getting substantial allowances or shares.
“Our problem is that our government prefers caring over prevention. For example, it was predicted that some local governments in Kano state might experience flooding.
“But it is unfortunate that no action is taken as a preventive measure. The government is waiting for the flood to occur so that it will release money for food support and what have you, thereby taking its own share at the expense of the lives and properties of the victims,” he said.
Medical experts
Contacted about the nature of the disease, Dr. Aminu Auwalu Bala, a medical doctor at Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital (AKTH), said this kind of disease is communicable and easily affects people, especially children.
Photo caption: Inside Government Secondary School Dabo Where Students Go For Open Defecation
“People should make sure that they wash their hands before and after eating food. As for children, parents should provide clean water for them when they are going to school, and teachers should be cautioning them on how to prevent themselves from the disease.”
He added that it is the responsibility of teachers to ensure that food vendors in their schools provide hygienic food, just as it was traditionally done in schools.
Government doing its best – Ministry of Health
SolaceBase contacted the Kano State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Abubakar Labaran , but he said he could not speak about the issue because he was travelling to Lagos.
However, Ibrahim Abdullahi, the Public Relations Officer of the Ministry, stated that the Kano State government is doing its best to take preventive measures against the cholera outbreak.
When asked about efforts at public schools, Abdullahi said he was not aware of any government efforts at the moment.
“Besides, there is no cholera in Kano State. And as for our efforts to prevent the disease in schools, I can’t say anything actually because I have no idea. But I will check.”
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