Sanitation and Hygiene in Pre-Colonial Osogbo

This study examines sanitation, hygiene, water management, and public health practices in pre-colonial Osogbo, Nigeria, challenging colonial-era portrayals of African societies as inherently unhygienic. Drawing on historical accounts, oral traditions, indigenous knowledge, and cultural practices, the study explores how Osogbo communities maintained personal, domestic, and environmental cleanliness before colonial contact. Findings reveal an organized sanitation system based on communal labour, designated refuse dumps, regular cleaning of markets, roads, water sources, and public spaces, alongside culturally embedded hygiene rules and taboos. Traditional authorities, elders, age grades, families, and religious institutions played important roles in enforcing sanitation standards and responding to health threats. Water sources were maintained through collective efforts, while epidemic control involved isolation, movement restrictions, and other preventive measures. The study concludes that pre-colonial Osogbo possessed a structured indigenous sanitation and public health system whose principles offer valuable insights for contemporary environmental health, community participation, and sustainable sanitation practices. Keywords: Pre-colonial Osogbo, Sanitation and hygiene, Indigenous public health, Environmental health, Yoruba society.