The invention of a mobile toilet in Nigeria by DMT Mobile Toilet Company with the conceived idea by Isaac Durojaiye a.k.a Otunba Gadaffi (SAN) has taken another dimension that the inventor never envisaged.
At present, DMT Mobile Toilet has invested over N75 million. From 2002 to now DMT Mobile Toilets company has manufactured more than 3000 mobile toilets. A good number of toilets are exported to foreign countries’ consumers. DMT mobile toilets are being used as official toilets in some states in Nigeria. The company has over 19 branches in Nigeria and 7 branches in the West African sub-region.
During the 8th All African Games, COJA, in Abuja, the capital city of Nigeria, DMT mobile toilets provided over 300 mobile toilets that were used during this event. During the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, CHOGM, hosted by Nigeria the company provided over 100 mobile toilets.
DMT Mobile Toilet Company establishes and maintains thousands of public toilets in Nigeria thereby providing job opportunities. Idle youth, poor women, especially widow; find gainful employment by maintaining and managing mobile public toilets. DMT Mobile Toilet manufactures the toilets and gives them free of charge to people who wish to take charge of their maintenance.
Each toilet has been placed in busy areas such as bus terminus and markets can be used by 100 people per day. As a result, the managers of these mobile toilets make about US$ 160 per month. Conversely, the operators of the mobile toilet are also employers of labour as they hire water vendor and a cleaner who assist to keep the sanitary facilities hygienic. To ensure a steady supply of mobile toilets, Ashoka Fellow Durojaiye Isaac established a local factory to manufacture the toilets and after receiving training, and hired some local employees.
DMT Mobile Toilet provides toilets for parties and outdoor activities. Lagos state government has signed an agreement with DMT Mobile toilet Company to set up 3,000 public toilets in Lagos. The company has also been contracted by the World Bank to manufacture and install over 500 public toilets in slum areas around Lagos.
DMT Mobile Toilet Company works with schools that lack proper sanitation facilities, donating both toilets and evacuation services as well as providing mobile toilets for some universities, and for the police and army. Beyond mobile toilet, DMT has established a bio-gas plant designed to process and convert sanitation waste into cooking gas and electricity in Nigeria.
In Kumasi Ghana, Asantewa and two students from Cranfield University Simon and Clemens are carrying out a project by installing a mobile toilet in the area. Tema Municipal Assembly (TMA) is providing mobile toilets at markets and other public places. Rural African water Development Project (RAWDP) in its bid to promote sanitation in Jamestown beach is meeting with a group of NGOs in Accra to run a sanitation campaign on Jamestown beach by establishing the pan latrine (portable mobile toilet) made up of a bucket fitted with a wood.
Away from West Africa, like mobile toilet, Ecotact Company in Kenya launched the Ikotoilet initiative, constructing 40 toilets in 20 Kenyan municipalities. Today it serves approximately 300,000 people daily and has created a pool of workers, with plans for up to 1000 employees in total.
Clients pay five shillings ($0.06 USD) to use a toilet. Ecotact has 29 units operating in 12 municipalities, including two in the slums of Mathare and Kawangare; it has over four million users in 2009 and five million users in 2010. Ecotact is dropping urban pollution from human waste, creating employment for low-income persons, and maintaining sanitation services by using Ikotoilet similar to that of a Mobile toilet.
Though the mobile toilet project has not received adequate attention from the government, evidence has shown that it is a project that deserves attention and support. With rapid urbanization taking place in West African cities without adequate facilities, the mobile toilet is likely to be a huge investment with lots of profit to be made.
Besides using the mobile toilet for defecation, it has brought a sustainable revolutionary solution for improving environmental sanitation and public health, creating a national consciousness about Mobile Public Toilets and better convenience when attending major events. It has also empowered youth and women with the Neighbourhood Mobile Public Toilet Scheme (PAY-AS-YOU-SHIT) create job opportunities in waste management Pioneered Nigeria’s human waste management industry. It has shown that there is nothing to be ashamed of in turning “shit business into serious business”.