ABSTRACT:

Adequate sanitation and hygiene practices could deliver significant health benefits; hence, this study analyzed households’ sanitation and hygiene practices in Yenagoa. This study adopted the survey design, which involved direct field observation, and the administration of 450 structured questionnaires that were administered to households in ten randomly selected neighbourhoods, using the systematic sampling technique. The obtained data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The findings revealed that households’ sanitation and hygiene practices in Yenagoa were unsatisfactory, as only 44.39% of the households had hand washing facility with soap in both toilet and kitchen. Also, 50.08% of the respondents indicated the presence of stagnant or sewage water close to their respective houses. In addition, the frequency of hand washing with soap and water always was unsatisfactory with some hygiene activities such as nose wiping and after sweeping the house or compound, which was found to be 40.81% and 39.54% respectively. However, there is an improvement in households’ sanitation and hygiene practices in Yenagoa, compared to previous average estimates for Bayelsa State and Nigeria. It was recommended that there should be adequate provision of facilities and citizens’ enlightenment on the health and socio-economic benefits of adequate sanitation and hygiene practices in Yenagoa.