CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study

A healthy living environment is essential to national growth and development, and it depends largely on effective environmental sanitation. Environmental sanitation covers the safe collection, transportation, treatment and disposal of human excreta, solid waste and waste water, the control of disease vectors, and the provision of facilities for personal and domestic hygiene. Good sanitation raises the quality of life, supports social development and reduces the burden of disease.

Despite this importance, access to adequate sanitation remains a global problem. The most recent WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme report estimates that in 2024 about 3.4 billion people still lacked safely managed sanitation services and 354 million still practised open defecation. It also shows that coverage is considerably lower in fragile contexts: safely managed sanitation coverage there is 33 percentage points lower than in other countries (World Health Organization [WHO] & United Nations Children’s Fund [UNICEF], 2025). Many developing countries, Nigeria included, therefore continue to face large gaps in sanitation facilities and services.

Facilities alone do not guarantee a clean environment, however. What residents know, how they feel about sanitation and what they actually do determine whether facilities are used and maintained. Provision of sanitation infrastructure is a means to an end, and the end is decided by the attitudes and behaviour of the people who use it. Public understanding of why sanitation matters is also central to finding workable solutions. Poor sanitation practices are commonly associated with overcrowding, inadequate facilities and amenities, low levels of education and awareness, low income and unplanned housing development.

Nigerian studies bear this out. A study of households in Bauchi State, in northern Nigeria, found that knowledge of environmental sanitation significantly influenced both attitude and practice (Mohammed, 2021). In Ondo city, householders showed low awareness of waste management, moderate attitudes to sanitation and generally poor waste disposal practices (Timilehin, 2018). In Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, residents’ education and income differed across high-, medium- and low-density areas and shaped their sanitation practices, as did their methods of waste disposal (Mala et al., 2024). Sanitation problems are therefore not confined to one kind of residential area or region, and they vary with the characteristics of the households concerned.

Much of the available research on sanitation in Borno State concentrates on the state capital, whereas smaller settlements such as Konduga have received far less attention. Few studies appear to examine how knowledge, attitudes and practices relate to one another among residents of Konduga Local Government Area, which is the focus of this study.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

The core area of a settlement is its commercial and residential centre and the main point through which goods and services reach the community. Because core areas usually concentrate facilities and services, they draw people from other parts of the settlement. The resulting overcrowding brings poor accessibility, high occupancy rates, inadequate drainage, insufficient infrastructure and social amenities, environmental pollution and poor sanitation.

Residential neighbourhoods in such areas are often built up without proper planning or adequate provision of basic services, including transport, health, security and sanitation facilities. These conditions worsen living standards and raise the risk of water-borne and filth-related diseases such as diarrhoea, cholera and malaria. The illnesses cost lives and working hours and so slow economic growth. The burden is heavier in countries such as Nigeria where health facilities are inadequate, and the WHO/UNICEF assessment shows that fragile settings face especially large sanitation gaps (WHO & UNICEF, 2025).

The problem is not only one of facilities. Evidence from Nigerian households shows that knowledge, attitude and practice do not always line up: residents may hold moderate attitudes yet practise poor waste disposal (Timilehin, 2018), and in other settings knowledge strongly predicts attitude and practice (Mohammed, 2021). Little is known about how this plays out in Konduga Local Government Area.

The study therefore addresses the following questions. How much do residents of Konduga know about environmental sanitation? What are their attitudes towards it? How do they practise it? And do their knowledge, attitudes and practices relate to one another?

1.3 Purpose of the Study

The study aims to assess environmental sanitation practices among citizens of Konduga Local Government Area, Borno State, Nigeria, and to identify the behaviours that arise from the adequacy of sanitation amenities. Specifically, it seeks to assess:

1. knowledge of environmental sanitation among citizens in Konduga Local Government Area;
2. attitude towards environmental sanitation among citizens in Konduga Local Government Area;
3. practice of environmental sanitation among citizens in Konduga Local Government Area;
4. the relationship between knowledge of and attitude towards environmental sanitation; and
5. the relationship between knowledge of and practice of environmental sanitation among households in Konduga Local Government Area.

1.4 Research Questions

The following research questions guided the study:

1. Do households in Konduga Local Government Area have knowledge of environmental sanitation?
2. What is the attitude of households in Konduga Local Government Area towards environmental sanitation?
3. What are the environmental sanitation practices of citizens in Konduga Local Government Area?
4. Is there a relationship between knowledge of and attitude towards environmental sanitation among households in Konduga Local Government Area?
5. Is there a relationship between knowledge of and practice of environmental sanitation among citizens in Konduga Local Government Area?

1.5 Justification of the Study

A clean environment is fundamental to human health, which is why regular and effective sanitation activities are needed everywhere. Adequate sanitation facilities, urban infrastructure and supportive sanitation policies all help determine how good living conditions are for people and their environment.

Governments and the public are increasingly concerned about environmental conditions and sanitation services in the world’s major cities, and substantial funds have gone into improving them. The same attention has not reached many crowded, low-income and fragile settings, where sanitation gaps remain widest (WHO & UNICEF, 2025). Core areas of developing-country settlements commonly offer employment and low-cost housing, especially to new arrivals, and so become the most crowded parts of the settlement, with sanitation problems to match.

The study will give local government authorities, health and environmental agencies and non-governmental organisations evidence on the knowledge, attitudes and practices of Konduga residents. This can inform health education, sanitation programmes and policy, which is the kind of public enlightenment recommended in the Maiduguri study (Mala et al., 2024). It also adds to the literature on sanitation in smaller north-eastern Nigerian settlements.

1.6 Basic Assumptions

The study is based on the following assumptions:

1. Households in Konduga Local Government Area that have adequate knowledge of environmental sanitation will help improve their environment.
2. Households in Konduga Local Government Area have a positive attitude towards environmental sanitation.
3. Households in Konduga Local Government Area have good environmental sanitation practices.
4. There is a significant relationship between knowledge of and attitude towards environmental sanitation among citizens in Konduga Local Government Area.
5. There is a significant relationship between knowledge of and practice of environmental sanitation among households in Konduga Local Government Area.

1.7 Hypotheses

The following null hypotheses, stated at the 0.05 level of significance, guided the study.

Major hypothesis: Households’ knowledge, attitude and practice of environmental sanitation in Konduga Local Government Area, Borno State, are not significant.

Sub-hypotheses:

• Ho1: Citizens of Konduga Local Government Area do not have a significant level of knowledge of environmental sanitation.
• Ho2: Citizens of Konduga Local Government Area do not have a significant (positive) attitude towards environmental sanitation.
• Ho3: Citizens of Konduga Local Government Area do not have a significant level of environmental sanitation practice.
• Ho4: There is no significant relationship between knowledge of and attitude towards environmental sanitation among citizens of Konduga Local Government Area.
• Ho5: There is no significant relationship between knowledge of and practice of environmental sanitation among citizens of Konduga Local Government Area.

1.8 Delimitation of the Study

The study is delimited to the knowledge, attitude and practice of environmental sanitation among citizens of Konduga Local Government Area, Borno State, Nigeria.

References

Mala, M., et al. (2024). Environmental sanitation practices in Maiduguri Metropolitan Council, Borno State, Nigeria. International Journal of Natural Resources and Environmental Studies.

Mohammed, A. (2021). Knowledge, attitude and practice of environmental sanitation among households in Bauchi State, Nigeria [Master’s thesis, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria]. Kashim Ibrahim Library Repository. https://kubanni.abu.edu.ng/handle/123456789/12552

Timilehin, O. O. (2018). Assessment of household awareness of, attitude to and practice of environmental sanitation exercise and waste disposal management in Ondo city, Ondo State. Department of Social Science Education, Ekiti State University. https://repository.ui.edu.ng/handle/123456789/10882

World Health Organization & United Nations Children’s Fund. (2025). Progress on household drinking water, sanitation and hygiene 2000–2024: Special focus on inequalities. WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme. https://data.unicef.org/resources/jmp-report-2025/