World Toilet Day: What Nigeria Needs to Do to Attain Open Defecation-Free Status, UNICEF Speaks
- The scourge of open defecation and poor hygiene affects the health of Nigerians across the 36 states and the federal capital territory (FCT)
- Stakeholders have said its effects are far-reaching and affect the economy and productivity as well
- A 2012 World Bank report showed that Nigeria loses N455 billion annually due to poor sanitation
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Azare, Bauchi state - The United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF), has lamented that Nigeria still has a deficit of 669 local government areas (LGAs) to join the league of open defecation-free (ODF) countries in the world.
According to UNICEF, it might be difficult to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 6 by 2030 if the federal government of Nigeria led by President Bola Tinubu and relevant stakeholders in the Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) fail to mobilise to ensure that the all the LGAs in the country are open defecation free.
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Clement Adams, the officer in charge of the UNICEF Bauchi field office, spoke on Wednesday, November 15, at a press conference in Azare, Bauchi state, in anticipation of World Toilet Day, Vanguard newspaper reported.
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Legit.ng reports that World Toilet Day is an official United Nations (UN) international observance day on November 19 of every year to inspire action to tackle the global sanitation crisis.
Bauchi LGA is open defecation free
Furthermore, Adams congratulated residents of Katagum LGA in Bauchi state for becoming the 105th local government area in Nigeria to be certified open defecation-free.
According to him:
"Majority of the diseases that afflict people can be traced to poor sanitation.
"Not having enough toilets is endangering both humans and the environment and the statistics we have is not encouraging.
"Jigawa is the only state in the country that has all its local government areas certified open defecation free but we believe other states can copy from them to ensure the country achieves the Sustainable Development Goal Number 6 by 2030.
"We need more partnership with relevant stakeholders and governments must ensure all hands are on deck to bridge the gap created by the shortfall."
World Toilet Day: Govt restates commitment
Earlier, Nuhu Zaki, the Bauchi state commissioner for water resources, restated the government’s commitment to attain an open defecation-free status across all the 20 LGAs by 2025.
His words:
"It is important to note that the state government was able to deliver 8 L.G.As as LGA ODF-wide, these include Dass, Warji, Shira, Gamawa, Bogoro, Ganjuwa, Toro, and Katagum LGAs.
"Additional 5934 communities were delivered ODF while two other LGAs were at different levels of becoming ODF that is Bauchi and Zaki LGAS."
Jigawa declared open defecation-free by UNICEF
Earlier, Legit.ng reported that the Jigawa state government said it has spent N500 million to provide improved latrines in schools, hospitals, markets, and motor parks across the state.
Alhaji Ibrahim Hannungiwa, the commissioner for water resources, said proactive measures have been adopted to ensure the sustainability of its leading position as an ‘Open Defecation Free’ state.
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Source: Legit.ng
