Federal government has earmarked N10 billion naira as a marching grant to stop open defecation in Nigeria by 2025.
However environmental experts said that Nigeria needs over N900 billion to ensure that open defecation is stamped out of the country.
This was disclosed by UNICEF WASH specialist Bioye Ogunjobi in a media dialogue on sanitation, Clean Nigeria:Use the toilet, workshop organization by United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Calabar.
the third in the series.
Addressing selected journalists from various media organizations in Calabar ,Ibrahim Conteh, Chief of Field Office UNICEF Enugu called on the media to put the issue of sanitation and open dedication to the front burner of national discourse, and create awareness on the dangers of open defecation to the citizens.
Conteh who said the Calabar meeting was the third in the series, represented Doutimije Kiakubu WASH specialist UNICEF Field Office, Enugu, challenged the media on sanitation and open defecation issues and appealed to them to make use of their various organisations to influence behavioral change at all levels of society to enable Nigeria achieve the goal .” they must be an end to open defecation ” he said.
He however commended the federal government for taken proactive steps in ensuring that the goal is achieved. ” Hence the clean Nigerian use the toilet campaign” which is very promising engagement between WASH practitioners and the media to not only end open defecation free ( ODF) in Nigeria by 2025, but also to ensure that the country meets the overall sanitation mandate of SDGs.
According to him ,achieving an end to open defecation means that all house holds ,institutions, markets and other public places must have an improved sanitary facilities.
Open defecation, Conteh said are detrimental to human health which leads to sickness like typhoid, cholera , diarrhea that are major causes of so many deaths in the country. Open defecation is the system where citizens dispose human faces in open ,in places like bushes and creeks etc.
“Federal government of Nigeria declared emergency on WASH in 2018 and has taken proactive steps to ensure that open defecation was stooped in 2025″ he said.
The WASH specialist Ogunjobi said the N10 billion mapped out by the federal government would be used to assist state governments who would come up with their budgets aimed at stopping ODF in their states.
Nevertheless available statistics shows that Nigeria is presently ranking the second country in the world after India in the practice of open defecation. That over 47 million Nigeria practice ODF. The report further stated that India by October 2019 would be free from open defecation and if that happens then Nigeria takes the first position in the world in this twenty first century. Hence the need for all hands to be on deck to ensure that citizens understands the danger one is exposed to in areas where open defecation are practises.
Olumide Osanyinpeju Deputy Director, Head, child Rights Information Bureau federal ministry of information and cultural Abuja commended UNICEF saying that It is a fact that UNICEF has been in the forefront of ensuring that Nigerians have access to safe drinking water supply, adequate sanitation and proper hygiene in our environment and communities.
He noted that the” Federal Ministry of Water Resources with support from UNICEF, in partnership with Inter-Ministerial Agencies, Civil Society Partners, the Private Sector, and the people of Nigeria, is currently leading the ODF campaign to end open defecation in the country by 2025, and achieve universal access to safely manage sanitation by 2030.“Clean Nigeria: Use the Toilet” campaign is one of the most ambitious ”
Regis Anukwuoji/Enugu
