Bayelsa Lawmaker, Kate Owoko, Who Built Floating Latrine Toilet Lashes Out At Critics

Kate Owoko, the Bayelsa lawmaker who built a floating latrine for her people, has thrown punches back to Nigerians, who have ridiculed her effort and expressed anger over how low she went.

She said she built the toilet according to the pressing demand of the women of Okori Ama and Oweidei Ama in Amassoma LGA, southern Ijaw constituency.

“This is an insult to democracy”, tweeted Ogwu Karl Chukwuweike, in one of the many reactions, that summarised the outrage of Nigerians, when photographs of the floating latrine hit the social media.

That she even had the audacity to invite TV cameramen to shoot the ‘first wonder’ of Bayelsa exacerbated the anger of Nigerians, who interpreted her effort as a big insult to Nigerian voters.

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Kate Owoko: this is what my people want

The roofed toilet, built with corrugated iron sheets was located on one of the creeks of Amassoma, with users made to pass their faeces into the water.

Kate in her reaction to the attacks said the toilet was built based on the pressing demand of the women of Okori-Ama and Oweidei-Ama of Amassoma, the town of late Bayelsa governor, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha.

“These were the pressing (immediate) need from these women at the time. Due to the terrain of these said compounds, they were in grave need for such toilets to answer to the ‘call-of-nature’.

“Prior to today these women hard(sic) to expose themselves to unsanitary conditions. Hence, requested particularly for such toilets from their representative”, a post on her FaceBook page said.

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The signboard at the site of the toilet 'facility'[/caption]

To buttress her story, she posted also the photograph of excited women at the commissioning of the floating latrine.

The reaction, from its tone, appeared to have been ghost-written for her. The writer said:

“This should be in no way mistaken(sic) for a constituency project which is her primary duty to her people. We are all aware that her constituency project is on education and it is ongoing”.

 The women dancing that Kate Okowo had brought a toilet to them  The Amassoma women clapping during the commissioning of the toilet[/caption]