Abuja: Stakeholders have called on the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) to urgently implement a coordinated sanitation and services plan for communities like Mpape, where over 30 per cent of residents lack access to toilets. This recommendation emerged from a meeting in Abuja to review findings from a recent sanitation study conducted in the Mpape District.
According to News Agency of Nigeria, the study, titled 'Mpape Sanitation Baseline Assessment', was presented at the Citywide Inclusive Sanitation (CWIS) Performance Improvement Plan Workshop, led by Mangrove and Partners. Participants highlighted that Mpape, a densely populated area near Maitama, suffers from poor sanitation, inadequate water access, and unmanaged waste despite its proximity to affluent parts of Abuja.
Mr. Timeyin Uwejamomere, a town planning expert and Fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Town Planners, presented the findings and expressed concerns over the stark disparities in infrastructure provision between central Abuja and its rapidly growing outskirts. He noted that many Mpape residents, who work in high-income neighborhoods, live in conditions that deny them dignity due to inadequate infrastructure.
Uwejamomere explained that Mpape developed without essential infrastructure due to the absence of a regional, city, or district development plan. Residents rely on open defecation and overflowing pit latrines, leading to waste spilling into nearby drains. The study found that over 60 per cent of residents in Mpape and similar communities depend on on-site sanitation with no structured system for waste management.
The findings revealed that the Wupa central wastewater treatment plant in Abuja, despite having six treatment basins, operates at only 30 per cent capacity due to incomplete sewer connections from parts of Abuja Phases II and III. Uwejamomere stressed the need to complete these connections to utilize public investment effectively.
Recommendations from the study included reconnecting dormant sewer lines to the Wupa treatment plant, mapping and registering informal sanitation workers, and providing training and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for sanitation operators. The establishment of a Faecal Sludge Management Unit within the Satellite Towns Development Department (STDD) was also suggested.
Additional proposals called for creating a specific budget line for sanitation and public toilet operations under the Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB), revising Abuja's outdated regional master plans to include inclusive sanitation strategies, and extending potable water supply to Mpape through the Greater Abuja Water Project. The study also recommended introducing simplified sewerage systems in hilly areas like Mpape and converting dried faecal sludge into compost or fuel briquettes.
Uwejamomere highlighted that open defecation, often seen as a rural issue, is becoming an urban crisis in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), with more than 40 per cent of Abuja's population engaging in the practice. He emphasized the lack of a clear strategy or budget for the Clean Nigeria Campaign, a federal initiative launched six years ago, and urged the FCT Minister to lead a citywide basic services catch-up initiative.
Chief Musa Pada, the District Head of Mpape, lamented the lack of basic amenities in the community, including poor access to clean water, inadequate healthcare, and worsening sanitation. He described the community's reliance on private boreholes and costly water trucks and called for government intervention to provide essential services and support.
Stakeholders, including representatives from the FCT Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency (RUWASSA), AEPB, development partners, and community-based organizations, pledged continued advocacy and technical support to ensure inclusive, data-driven, and adequately funded sanitation planning in Abuja.