AS Nigeria joins rest of the world to commemorate 2021 World Toilet Day, the Minister of Water Resources, Engr Suleiman Adamu, weekend, expressed why government is worried over 46 million Nigerians openly defecate.
Adamu said this in a statement signed by the Director, Press and Public Relations Unit, Federal Ministry of Water Resources, Kenechukwu Offie, while delivering a keynote address at the 2021 World Toilet Day and the second anniversary of the ‘Clean Nigeria: Use the Toilet’ Campaign jointly organized by the Federal Ministry of Water Resources and Federal Ministry of Water Resources in collaboration with stakeholders with theme of 2021 World Toilet Day is ‘Valuing Toilets’.
The commemoration event was attended by many stakeholders including Action Against Hunger, OPS-WASH, Reckitt, Sato, UNICEF, WaterAid and other Development Partners.
The high point of the event was the presentation of trophy to Federal Government College Rubochi as the cleanest Unity Federal College
2021 World Toilet Day: Why we’re worried 46m Nigerians openly defe
AS Nigeria joins rest of the world to commemorate 2021 World Toilet Day, the Minister of Water Resources, Engr Suleiman Adamu, weekend, expressed why government is worried over 46 million Nigerians openly defecate.
Adamu said this in a statement signed by the Director, Press and Public Relations Unit, Federal Ministry of Water Resources, Kenechukwu Offie, while delivering a keynote address at the 2021 World Toilet Day and the second anniversary of the ‘Clean Nigeria: Use the Toilet’ Campaign jointly organized by the Federal Ministry of Water Resources and Federal Ministry of Water Resources in collaboration with stakeholders with theme of 2021 World Toilet Day is ‘Valuing Toilets’.
The commemoration event was attended by many stakeholders including Action Against Hunger, OPS-WASH, Reckitt, Sato, UNICEF, WaterAid and other Development Partners.
The high point of the event was the presentation of trophy to Federal Government College Rubochi as the cleanest Unity Federal College in FCT.
He said: “The practice of open defecation due to non-availability of sanitation facilities is linked to sanitation related diseases, poor educational outcome and loss of productivity.
“Besides these are the loss of dignity, inconvenience and violence experienced by women and girls, when practicing open defecation.
“494 million people are practicing open defecation globally out of which 46 million are Nigerians which ranked the nation among the countries with the highest number of people involved in the act.”
However, the Minister expressed optimism that Nigeria would attain open defecation free status in 2022, which he said before the next anniversary of the Clean Nigeria: Use the Toilet Campaign in 2022, there will be declaration of an Open Defecation Free (ODF) State.
“In order to address this unfortunate situation and its negative implication on national development, Federal Ministry of Water Resources in collaboration with stakeholders in the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Sector rolled out initiatives such as the development of a Roadmap towards making Nigeria Open Defecation Free (ODF) by 2025, Partnership for Expanded Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (PEWASH) programme, the National WASH Action Plan to revitalize the sector and declaration of a state of emergency in the sector by the President. Also, the ‘Clean Nigeria:Use the Toilet Campaign’ was launched in 2019 by the Vice President to implement the National ODF Roadmap which was followed by the signing of Executive Order 009 by Mr. President, to give effect to the Campaign.
“The Campaign is making steady progress in its objective of ending open defecation in the country by 2025 and improving sustainable access to sanitation and hygiene, as Nigeria now has 71 ODF LGAs and additional LGAs are undergoing the ODF validation process using the national protocol developed by the National Task Group on Sanitation (NTGS).
“Besides this, over 20,000 communities in other LGAs across the country have been certified as Open Defecation Free in line with the established protocol”, he added.
Earlier in a remark, the Minister of State for Environment, Chief Sharon Ikeazor, represented by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry Engr. Hassan Musa, stated that toilets play a crucial role in creating a strong economy as well as improving health and protecting people’s safety and dignity especially women and girls, who need clean and separate facilities to manage menstruation.
Using toilets, she said prevents the germs in human excreta from entering the environment and protect the health of the entire community.
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