Is the prison sentence really the answer? Bayo Akinlade reacts to the prison of 13 residents of Lagos for public urination

At the beginning of this week, the news broke out that a court of magistrate in Bolade, Oshodi, sentenced 13 residents of Lagos for something so fundamental – and frankly, inevitable – as responding to the call of nature in public. Each of them was sentenced to three months in prison to urinate or defecate in the Agege and Alimosho areas.

Their names and their centuries paint an image of ordinary people – men between 20 and 50 years of age – they came across a problem bigger than them: Friday Samuel (49), Sulaimon Olalekan (54), Idris Jimoh (45), Alao Babaunde (54), Chinonso Dominic (21), Akeem Suraju (42), Lawal Idris (29) Adebayo (30), Ismaila Adeyemi (35), Murtala Jamilu (20), Samson Memudia (54), Jamilu Abdullahi (29) and Ganiyu Akeem (55).

For Bayo Akinlade, former president of the NBA Ikorodu branch and founder of the Duty Solicitors network, this is more than a legal problem: it is an evident example of governance that has gone wrong.

“Do we really believe that three months in an overcrowded prison are the solution?” Akinlade asked Punta. It is a question that should make it stop everyone. Our prisons are exploding to the seams, yet we are adding people who simply needed a bathroom.

“For years, the government of the state of Lagos has spoken of non -foster convictions and rehabilitation. But how do the prison people are adapted to that vision? Where are public toilets? Why are restaurants, petrol stations and government buildings not necessary to maintain their bathrooms open and functional for the public?

“Our courts too – precisely the place where these people have been tried and condemned – often lack clean toilets and who work for staff, lawyers, disputes and visitors. If our public infrastructure does not satisfy the basic human needs, who is really guilty?”

Akinlade did not chop the words: “This move by the government to enforce a law when she has not managed to provide the structures that they would prevent people from breaking it is irresponsible and unacceptable”.

He is right. Lagos can do better and has to do better. It is easy for politicians to mark points with difficult laws and a flashy unit of application. But a real leadership means solving the root problem, not punishing people for circumstances they cannot control.

“Citizens are not flew to be discarded after the elections,” Akinlade warned. When a government fails to provide basic notions such as toilet – Sanitarian services, it turns to criminalize people for trying to cope, it is not governance – it is negligence.

“It is time for Lagos to rethink the way in which he treats his people. Public urination should not land anyone in prison. He should push us to ask better questions – and request better answers from those who are responsible.” He added.