A 24-year-old Mathematics graduate from the University of Ibadan, Adetokunbo Ogunnoiki and his startup partner, a 24-year-old Mechanical Engineering student,
Ademola Gbadero, have
sealed a partnership deal with
Lagos State
Government to create a real-time mapping
system for public toilets across the megacity.
The collaboration
follows a viral proposal Ogunnoiki pitched on X formerly Twitter on Saturday,
which caught the attention of Commissioner for Environment
and Water Resources,
Tokunbo Wahab.
According to Wahab, the
innovation—developed under the startup “LooPoint”—leverages geo-mapping
technology to help residents locate clean and available
public toilets in real
time.
Recently, the Lagos
State Government had urged businesses such as filling stations, banks,
eateries, and other public-facing facilities to make their restrooms
accessible to the
public as part of efforts to eliminate open defecation.
This was as the
government also announced that it has deployed 1,710 functioning public toilets
across the state to serve both residents and visitors.
Responding to the
thread, Ogunnoiki pitched his startup, arguing that the problem wasn’t just
building toilets, but making them “findable.”
“It’s not just a matter
of constructing toilets, but making them findable,” Ogunnoiki wrote.
“We can map 1710 public
toilets operated by the Lagos government, live status and rating on LooPoint.
Businesses that have accessible restroom points,
and include those that
choose to be listed.
“Residents can use the
platform without having to download the app on any device. The ministry also
gains a data dashboard showing usage patterns, cleanliness
feedback, and
maintenance needs,” he added.
Within hours, he was
invited to pitch his ideas directly to the Ministry on providing “real-time
tech solutions that will ensure seamless public access
to the installed public
toilets.”
Accompanied by his
partner, Ogunnoiki reportedly presented his proposal to a panel of top
officials in about 30 minutes on Monday.
“The duo demonstrated
how they developed a tech solution to solve similar challenges on their
university campus, the University of Ibadan; the platform,
they said, has
successfully helped students locate clean and available toilets within the
school,” the Senior Special Assistant on Media to Lagos State
Governor, Wale
Ajetunmobi, noted.
“In their PowerPoint
presentation, Adetokunbo and Ademola outlined their proposal for the
development of an advanced model of their tech platform, which
would enable commuters
in Lagos to easily find clean and available public toilets in real-time using
geo-mapping.
“They explained how
their platform would provide users with information about toilet availability
at every location, cleanliness ratings, walking directions
and estimated time to
walk to a toilet,” he added.
Wahab also expressed
that the project will further bolster the drive for a cleaner Lagos and
encouraged constructive engagement from the public.
“We welcome objective
criticism that offers solutions, not outright condemnation, insults and curses.
Governance is about collective solutions and empowering
the next generation”.
The Commissioner wrote:
“They proposed a tech platform that uses geo-mapping to help Lagosians locate
clean and available public toilets in real time,
with features like
cleanliness ratings, walking directions, and estimated arrival times. They have
already deployed a similar solution on their university
campus with success.”
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