Improving sanitation through sanitation centre: a case study of Chediya, Nigeria

Sanitation coverage is generally low in Nigeria especially in rural areas where only about a third of rural population has access to sanitary means of excreta disposal. One of the options that have been implemented in the country is the SaniCentre concept which was introduced in 1995. The concept at inception was instrumental to accelerated sanitation promotion but this could not be sustained as indicated in the assessment of SaniCentres conducted in 1998 which prompted the refining of strategies for delivery thereby leading to the introduction of privately managed SaniCentres. Chediya SaniCentre is one of those privately managed centres that has been functional since establishment in 2004 and has contributed to improving sanitation uptakes in many communities. Not withstanding the low level of functionality of SaniCentres, the privately managed centres possess a lot of potentials that could be harnessed for scaling up sanitation development as demonstrated by Chediya SaniCentre.