By Vincent Kalu
They are everywhere, engaged in occupations and menial jobs that are essential for living. But they are hardly appreciated or recognised. And in some cases, they are treated with disdain by the same people who derive comfort and value from their jobs.
Without them, many people would live in discomfort in environments that breed communicable diseases. For the nature of their jobs, they are ubiquitous, as they are found in the neighbourhoods, streets, markets, hospitals and other places where human activities take place. In spite of the shame and embarrassment they constantly suffer, these folks embrace these chores, which most people can’t accept even as a last resort.
Because of their jobs, people find it extremely difficult to relate with them while they are on duty or stretch their hands for a handshake. Even when a cup of water is given to them, the cup is quarantined or discarded.
These are the sewage disposal workers, the plumbers that break the septic pipes, chambers and clear blocked soak away pits; the operators of sewage disposal trucks and many others that do the unattractive jobs to make lives worth living.
Some of them got into the job not out of choice but necessity. At Amuwo Odofin canal in Lagos where the sewage trucks discharge their contents, these workers use their bare hands to scoop sewage water from the disposable trucks. The dexterity with which Sunny, (surname withheld), a young man in his late 30s, carries out this task suggests that he is on top of the job and passionate about it irrespective of people’s mindset or opinion.
“I learned to cut hair. After my graduation party, there was no money to set up shop. I came from a very wretched family. My father even finds it hard to feed. So when somebody introduced me to the job, it took me time to accept it and to even come to terms with the nature of the job.
“I had to accept it instead of going into criminal activities. At first, what I used to encourage myself is that those that are doing it are human beings. Am I better than them? What is shameful about it if it puts food on my table?”
With this frame of mind, Sunny said he is determined to do the job but prayed that he doesn’t continue with it for long because of the many health implications.
According to him, it is only his wife, a hairdresser that knows his job. His neighbours as well as his parents in the village don’t know what he does for a living.
“Every morning, everybody goes out, and nobody knows what the other person does for a living and in the evening we all return home.” He said there has never been any occasion that the job took him to his neighbourhood.
He admits that the job is hazardous because of the associated health problems. According to him, you may make enough money from the job. “But when you become ill as a result of the offensive stench that we inhale every day, if care is not taken, you will spend all and even more than you have made to get medical attention. That is the reason that people don’t do the work for long before they look for other things to do.”
Based on this, he said he is planning to save money to set up a big barbing saloon as he may not be on the job in the next three years.
But how does he relate with the people he is working for? “Sometimes you ask for water from the madam or the residents of the house; they will be hesitating, probably looking for a condemned vessel or plastic cup to give us water even when you have washed your hands.
“It is also embarrassing even when you have completed the evacuation and entered your sewage disposal truck about to move, someone asks for your phone number, you tell him to bring the phone for you to dial the number as you can’t dictate it off hand, the person would tell you ‘thank you’ and he would leave. Sometimes when you stretch your hand for a handshake, you are ignored.
“At first, all these embarrassments worried me, but now they don’t bother me anymore, I love what I’m doing. Like they say, ‘half a loaf is better than none’,” Sunny said.
Tunde is another man that engages in the occupation that adds value to existence but is treated with disdain. He is a plumber that specialises in opening blocked sewage pipes, sewage chambers, and clearing of soak away pits and septic pits. The manner he goes about his duty gives the impression of someone being in love with his job.
His face beamed as he whistled and hummed his favourite songs while using hand trowel or even bare hands to pull out wastes from the sewage pipes. Where the little metal strings couldn’t do the desired work especially at the septic chambers, he uses his bare hands to remove sponges, underwear, used sanitary towels, diapers and other hard objects that were mistakenly flushed down the water closet.
When asked why he should use his bare hands to do such a job, he said: “What you are seeing are the various vegetables and other foods eaten by people; those are what they pass out. Have you seen any person eating human waste? I marvel when I see people turning away their faces at the sight of human waste because they don’t know that it is just digested food.”
With this mindset, Tunde said he is fulfilled with the job he does and noted that he is not ashamed of the job, the reason he does it in the day not in the night.
According to him, there should be dignity in labour, stressing that if the genuine work you are doing should put food on your table, you should be proud of it. Tunde, who is in his late 50s, said the reason youths are jobless and usually get into troubles is that they are determined to work only in cosy environments. Look, very soon, there would be no young ones following us. It is when we are no more that people would appreciate our worth, and by then, it would be late.”
On how his immediate family and neighbours see his job, Tunde said while he is not worried about the nature of the job, his children are not proud of it. They are praying and hoping that he gets another job that is dignifying. Among their peers, they don’t mention the work that their father does.
“One of my sons suggested that it is better that I join the agberos at bus stops and collect money from commercial drivers than this job. My neighbours have not had any cause to talk down on me, but I know in their minds, there is this disdain they have for my family. This has made my wife not engage in conflicts with other women in the compound. In all, we are even feeding better than almost all our neighbours because I’m always engaged by clients,” Tunde said.
Jerome Akuma dresses as if he works in a corporate environment. Even his neighbours in the Ojo area of Lagos know that he is a plumber who handles big plumbing projects like new buildings. Never have they realised that he evacuates blocked sewage pipes, chambers and soak away pits to clear excrement.
Akuma, who should be in his mid 40s, told Saturday Sun that he has been in general plumbing business, handling big projects, as well as doing the menial jobs of clearing blocked sewage pipes, chambers and septic pits, sometimes when the tools are not able to do it, you use your bare hands.
“I don’t handle sewage works in the entire Ojo area because I don’t want anybody to know that I can descend so low to do such jobs. In my neighbourhood, they see me as somebody who handles great works and they have seen me doing plumbing works for news buildings – multi-storey buildings and bungalows. So, they cannot in their wildest imagination think that I do sewage works. I go as far as Lagos Island, Ikeja and other highbrow areas for such menial jobs, and thereafter, I dress as if I work in a big office and return home. Anyone who hires me for sewage work pays heavily,” Akuma said.
Akuma also expressed concern on the dearth of people who handle sewage jobs. According to him, “very soon, everybody would be clearing his own blocked pipes, chambers and soak away pits as no young man is ready for such ‘dirty’ jobs again. Even the wages are not commensurate with the work we do.”