Case Study of Local Leadership in Action: Yala Nkum ward level sanitation task force Written by: Eze Ugochukwu (Edited by: Shadrack Guusu)
The people of Yala Nkum council ward in Ikom LGA Cross River made a commitment to end open defecation and improve their sanitation and hygiene practices. This was facilitated through The Community-led Health Improvement through Sanitation and Hygiene Promotion in Nigeria (CHISHPIN), a UKaid funded project with the aim of supporting 3 LGAs in Cross River state to end open defecation and enjoy improved health benefits using the demand driven approach of Community Led Total Sanitation (CLTS). This commitment was backed up with action as 14 out of the 17 communities in the ward were validated to be open defecation free (ODF) by the National Task Group on Sanitation (NTGS) having met all the ODF criteria and passed through all the levels on verification. Three communities however recorded failure 3 times at the 4th level of verification by the State Task Group on Sanitation (STGS), and as such could not be validated by the NTGS. Osibe Vincent, a Natural Leader from the council ward (who was now volunteering with the WASH Unit of the LGA) saw the failures of the 3 communities as it were; a deliberate effort by a few people to sabotage the hard work of the council ward and deter them from being declared ODF. He further recognized the fact that there needed to be institutional efforts from the leadership of the ward to appropriately handle the saboteurs, attain ODF status and sustain it on the long run, after the project would have ended. He then facilitated a process that led to a meeting of the entire stakeholders of the council ward. With the understanding that the few people still defecating in the open were risking the health of every other person in the ward and that the council ward would never be declared ODF if just one person was practicing open defecation, all the stakeholders came to an agreement on the measures to take. They enacted by-laws against open defecation and other sanitation and hygiene related issues, as well as formed a group from among themselves known as Central Task Force Committee (CTFC) Yala Nkum, charged with the responsibility of handling WASH related issues and reporting to the clan council. For purpose of visibility and easy identification, a T-shirt and Cap were designed for the members, which included the Clan head representative (as the Chairman), The clan Council Secretary, the trained Natural Leader (as the team coordinator) and 3 persons each from the 5 main communities of Yala-Nkum (All drawn from the existing/trained WASHCOM). The CTFC was given the mandate to visit every community, on a periodic basis and carry out inspection of household toilets to ensure compliance in accordance to the by-laws. Defaulters were made to stand before the sanitation panel of the ward which was chaired by the clan head. This set up led to the complete clean up on the entire ward within a short time. The 4th level verification by STGS was repeated in the three communities and all passed, this built up to the final validation of the entire LGA by NTGS in December 2018 after which Ikom LGA was declared ODF. The enactment of by-laws and constitution of ward level task force gave credence to the community Water Sanitation and Hygiene Committee (WASHCOM) that, prior to this time were disregarded
especially in the peri-urban communities. This institutional support gave the WASHCOMs a voice and a better standing to better support their communities and face the difficult people knowing that they were backed up by the authority of the clan council.