Mrs. Adeola Asabia and Ms. Jife Williams are directors of MN Environmental Services Ltd., which was set up in 2008. Asabia tells BOSEDE OLUSOLA-OBASA about their resolve to end open defecation in Lagos through the building of public toiletsWhy did you choose to venture into building and running toilets perceived as a dirty job' Yes, usually people do not want to associate with the word toilet. Some even treat it like a taboo because it connotes dirt. But the reason we decided to go for it was based on the experience we garnered through our stakeholder engagement in 2000. Then, under a non-profit outfitMetamorphosiswe maintained public toilets with partnership from corporate bodies. There was one at Alayabiagba Market in Orile and another in the Obalende community, but these have since been handed over to the market association; while the Obalende public toilet has been handed over to the Obalende community. We are no longer involved in the maintenance of those public toilets. I only referred to these cases to show that we have been in this business on a non-profit basis for long. We found out that toilets were part of their priority needs on the Lagos Island and we set out to solve that problem. It is pathetic to note that many of them will excrete in cellophane bags in their shops and throw them out in the canal or drainage thereafter. That is how they live and this is the 21st century. Apart from that, it is a usual practice to find people; men and women alike, urinating in the open. They claim that they have to express themselves because there are no alternatives. I am happy with the resolution recently passed by the Lagos State Ministry of the Environment that anyone caught urinating in the open will pay a fine or clean public toilets. This will at least serve as deterrent to those who are in this bad social habit. We appreciate the fact that it is a call of nature that people can hardly ignore, but again it is not dignifying to do it right there in the open. So where we come in is to provide an alternative so that when government is slamming the fines on people they will have no excuses. We also wish to encourage the Lagos State Government to give more attention to sanitation so that we can realise the 2015 Millennium Development Goal on water and sanitation. Currently Nigeria is lagging behind. What makes yours different from other toilet ideas' It is a transformational organisation run by two social entrepreneursMs. Jife Willams and I; both directors. We are in the business to solve a social problem; that unhealthy practice whereby people go to toilet in open public spaces, drainages, roads, bushes and so on. In developed countries, there are conveniences in shopping malls, street corners, bus stations, train stations, parks and generally places where people congregate; but developing countries on the other hand such as Nigeria are challenged in the provision of improved facilities resulting in predominant practice of open defecation. What we are bringing on board is to professionalise the provision and management of public conveniences. Our brand of public conveniences also have showers and run by trained people who manage the place and offer effective communication to the users of the facilities.In the past, local government solely provided public toilets, some of them were sub contracted to other people to run but you see that they do not have required maintenance culture and again the facilities are poorly designed. They should be well lit and ventilated but a lot of these standards were fallen short so we are poised to fill the gap.MN works closely with Lagos State under a Public-Private Partnership Agreement to build modern public toilets in approved locations. Its a build, operate and transfer concession. For instance, an MN toilet is branded with bright colours (orange and green), as against the dull colours associated by public conveniences. The toilets are easily distinguished with courteous staff. A visit to the facility is like a home away from home. We have hygiene officers, ticket collectors, 24-hour security and trained professionals running the toilets. Another innovation is that we are using the platform to promote safe hygiene practices. The hygiene officers for instance ensure that people do not leave the toilet without washing their hands. They have been trained to politely call them and ask them to have their hands washed. And even when there is a resistance, for instance someone argues that look I dont usually wash my hands and I am still alive then the officer ceases the opportunity to explain the import of safe toilet hygiene practices and sickness that result from poor toilet hygiene. We plan to build 38 facilities, at least one in each of the 20 local government areas in Lagos state in the next 10 years. Where are the toilets in Lagos' We have a facility at Anthony Taxi Park along Ikorodu Road with the tag MN toilets. The facility has six toilet cubicles, three urinals and four shower cubicles. The service is provided on a pay and use basis at an affordable price. There are, however, two more facilities that we have been asked to manage along Marina under our partnership with the Lagos state government.Whats the yardstick used for determining price per use of these toilets' We charge the same price everywhere no matter where the toilets are located. We fixed the price after we had gone round the state to see what other operators were charging. There is an affordable price that most operators are charging so we fall within that range. For us, its very important that everybody has access to the toilets to forestall the ill of people using public places as toilets. Our first goal is to make a social impact; profit making comes just after that. Who are your support partners or how do your recoup investment' From our pilot experience, we discovered that at times, we recorded about 500 visits on a daily basis to the public toilets and that is encouraging. The fact is that the need for a good public toilet is still very great, so there is room for investors in that area to make money. Lagos State is our key partner; it find the location for the toilets, while we build and manage. We have plans to court corporate organisations with interest in public hygiene, just as we worked with Shell in the past. We are also partners with the World Toilet Organisation among others. For us, the most important thing is innovation, thinking outside the box. We usually opt for high density areas: markets, motor parks, low-income housing settlements, generally places where the need for it is high. Our locations have to be strategically chosen. Is it easy to recruit workers to work in toilets' Our main target is the youth, because we see this as a source of employment for them. We target young people who have the energy and the drive. Yes, we have found that a lot of people will rather not work in a toilet. But based on the indices we gathered about people looking for employment and when they listen to our package they find out that it is not the usual toilets that they have always known and they want to come on board. We also attract them by ensuring that they are well paid. We have had to employ HND and first degree holders especially as supervisors and hygiene officers. A person who would handle that kind our brief must be literate and able to communicate well. What are the challenges to this line of business' We have had a fair share of challenges. For instance, we have to work with government and they have to find the approved location for these toilets to be sited. The Lagos State Government will tell you that land is like oil. Power is another, because any organisation operating in this environment has need for an alternative power supply. All our facilities require a stand by alternative power because we need it to power borehole for water, which is basic. Finance is another challenge; we did not want to go to the banks because of the interest rates; besides they are always sceptical to give loans to companies with new ideas. They think it is too risky for them. The environment also poses a challenge because Nigeria is a very harsh environment for new ideas especially working with communities. By the time you are introducing the idea, some people might kick against it because they cant see what is in it for them and once they cant get a bribe, they attack the idea no matter how laudable. That is why advocacy is a continuous effort. How do you determine how many people visited the toilets in one day' We have control measures to curb corruption. Once a person gets in he is directed to the ticket officer, he gets a ticket to use the facility he has paid for. At the other side theres also an officer marking how many people are coming in and at the end of the day theres reconciliation of accounts. The banks alert us to how much is made daily. Ideally, and it is part of our midterm plan to have people counters. It is a technology that clocks once someone comes into the facility, though it is a bit capital intensive right now. Where were you both doing before the advent of the toilet business' Jife and I had both worked in the banking industry and later resigned. I trained as a lawyer but did not practise law. We had also done one or two other things before we started out on this. We found ourselves because our children attended the same school; they were actually in the same class. We usually met whenever we were waiting to pick the children from school. Those period offered us ample time to network and talk on issues of general interest until we found that we shared some passions in common. We were tired of complaining about the state of things in the country and thought it was a call to change things for the better that drove us in this direction. We decided to go into sanitation after a lot of brainstorming sessions because at that time, Lagos was a home filth and refuse. Sanitation has really come a long way in Lagos. For us, it is about seeking innovative ways to solve old social problems. With the economic downturn we realise that what sets you apart is your innovation and quality of service; that is what is unique about what you are providing.
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