WHEN CHOLERA CALLED IN IBADAN

Little Samad Sikiru, 7, was always the first to wake up in the morning within the household. His first demand was his food and after that, everyone could go to rest. That was how his young mother, Zainab, fondly remembered the lad who she would see no more, having lost him to the cold hands of death.

Samad died in the early hours of Thursday, August 18, following the cholera outbreak that ravaged parts of Ibadan, Oyo State, recently.

The little boy had woken up as usual at their residence at Ayeye, a community in the Ibadan North-West Local Government area of Oyo State on the fateful day. This time, he was not to make his regular request for food, but to complain that he was weak. His mother informed the reporter:

'He woke me up and said he was weak. I noticed it myself, as he had been showing signs of weakness the previous day before we went to bed. Within a few seconds, he had started vomiting and was also defecating frequently. He was too weak. He couldn't talk. As we tried to talk to him, he could not answer. His eyes changed immediately. He later gave up the ghost even before we could rush him to the maternity centre beside our house. Everything happened so fast. In less than two minutes my baby was gone.'

Samad was one of the four victims who died within 48 hours of the outbreak of the epidemic in the vicinity. Another woman simply identified as Aunty Funmi was said to have rushed her baby to Opo-Yeosa for treatment after discovering that the baby had developed symptoms of cholera. She could not, however, save the baby as he died on the way.

Other cases of the disease were reported in areas such as Idikan, Alawo, Abebi, and Ekotedo, all in the local government. Those affected by the cholera epidemic were said to have been rushed to Ayeye Health Centre, Oniyanrin Maternity and the Cholera Unit at the State Hospital, Jericho, Ibadan.

The affected areas have been notorious for being an unhigenic environment, with no toilet facilities and waste bin in many of the houses. Mr Akeem Owode, an elder at Ayeye confirmed the situation. He said: 'Hardly will you find a house in this area with a toilet.'

He added that most of the dwellers made use of polythene bags to dispose their faeces and were fond of throwing dirt into drainages. He further said the people had not been making use of the public toilet provided by the council because of the reluctance to pay the stipulated N20 fee for the use. 'Others believe that the toilet is located at the centre of Ayeye market and not within their houses and so they prefer their normal 'short-put' style,' Owode said, implying the indiscriminate throwing of faecal materials in the environment.

A similar occurrence, according to a top government official at the state Ministry of Health who craved anonymity, was recorded in Saki town in the Saki West Local Government area of the state sometime last year. He attributed the cause of the epidemic to dirty environment.

But the local government authorities swiftly swung into action to contain the fatalities. Shortly after the outbreak, the Ibadan North West Health Care Centre located at Ayeye community summoned an emergency meeting of all community leaders in the neighbourhood, sensitizing residents on the need to maintain a healthier and cleaner environment. Mrs. Kadijat Adedokun, the matron at the health centre told Daily Sun that the trend was disturbing. She harped on the need for the communities to maintain a cleaner environment, construct toilets and have waste bins instead of the usual practice of waiting for the rains and erosion to dispose off their refuse.

As part of an emergency response to the spread of the disease, chairman of the council's caretaker committee, Mr. Wasiu Olatubosun, directed that all major sources of water (mostly wells) around the affected areas be treated while the adjoining areas were fumigated. Olatunbosun also placed a ban on the activities of food vendors in the six affected communities pending when the epidemic would be phased out. Health and environment management units of the council were also directed to commence an intensive assessment and intervention in the affected areas so as to ascertain the cause and extent of the outbreak. He added that henceforth, any residents found disobeying environmental laws would be charged to court.

The council boss said: 'During our earlier routine visits to the areas, before the cholera outbreak, we marked out some houses and we gave them a two-week notice to construct toilets. We have since discovered that none of the landlords complied with the directive. They have been marked out for disobeying environmental law and we again served them an order to build toilets within 14 days, after which they will be charged to court.'

Governor Abiola Ajimobi, the state governor, also deployed a team of senior officials of the Ministry of Health, doctors and other health workers, led by the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Abdullateef Olopoenia, to the affected communities as a way of curtailing the spread.