CCDI unveils 8 toilet facilities for schools in Abuja

A non-governmental organisation (NGO), Create that Change Development Initiative (CCDI), in partnership with the Swiss Embassy in Nigeria, has inaugurated two newly constructed eight-stall toilet facilities for pupils in public primary schools in low-income communities in Abuja.

The intervention was the first phase of the public-school revival initiative (PSRI), a flagship project aimed at improving learning environments in Nigeria’s public primary schools through critical infrastructure upgrades.

The toilet facilities are located at LEA Nomadic Primary School, Apo Dutsen-Garki, and LEA Primary School, Kabusa.

Speaking at the unveiling ceremony, the executive director of CCDI, Sharon Ayeni, expressed satisfaction that the organisation had achieved its goal of providing functioning toilets for the pupils of the two schools.

Ayeni said: “In the LEA nomadic school, they didn’t have electricity. So, we connected them to electricity.

“We have agreed with the school and the PTA for them to ensure that the bills are paid. The school in Kabusa already had a borehole here, but no running water. So, we reconnected them to the water supply before building this toilet facility.”

Ayeni said CCDI has discussed the maintenance of the facilities with the head teacher and the leadership of the Parent Teachers Association (PTA), who have promised to maintain the toilets.

She added: “And we have said that we will be coming regularly just to check on the facilities and to provide them with a little support if they need help.

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“But we’ve handed the toilets to the school and the community. So, it’s up to them to maintain these facilities.”

The Swiss ambassador to Nigeria, Patrick Egloff, thanked CCDI for its commitment and dedication to the future of Nigeria by championing education of children.

Also speaking, the head teacher at LEA Primary School, Bisala Rukkiyya, said the toilet situation in the school was terrible before CCDI’s intervention.

She stated that the organisation had asked her about the school’s biggest challenge.
Rukkiyya said: “I told them that our immediate problem is the toilet because the pupils don’t have toilets, and if they can give us a toilet, we will be very happy.

“I showed them the site to build a toilet, and they started. Believe me, before a month, they had finished the toilet. I was very impressed.

“Words alone cannot express how happy I am with having this. Now there won’t be open defecation again; at least we will have a good toilet, a standard one.”

At the nomadic primary school in Dutsen Garki, the ceremony was witnessed by the Chief Imam of the community and the Hakimi ( community leader). The two leaders thanked Ayeni and her organisation while praying for more interventions in the schools.

Also present was a member of the board of CCDI, Jasper Ogbonna, who maintained that the provision of the toilet facilities solved problems of contamination and it is helping towards the attainment of the Sustainable Development goals (SDGs).

The Star