Over 46Million Nigerians Practice Open Defecation

The Federal Ministry of Water Resources has disclosed that Nigeria has the highest number of persons, who practice open defecation with an estimate of over 46 million.

The Minister of Water Resources, Suleiman Hussein Adamu, stated this on Monday during the official celebration of the Dass Local Government-Sanitation, Hygiene and Water in Nigeria (SHAWN) project’s attainment of open defecation-free (ODF) status, at the Waziri Mazadu Primary School in Dass Local Government headquarters, Bauchi State.

Speaking on behalf of the minister, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Water Resources, Musa Ibrahim, quoted him as saying that more than two-thirds of Nigeria’s population has no access to basic hygiene and sanitation facilities and efforts in the past to address the challenge yielded minimal results.

He commended UNICEF and the UK Aid for supporting the implementation of the SHAWN project in Nigeria, which, he said, has been implemented in 70 local government areas of six states, Bauchi, Benue, Katsina, Zamfara, Kaduna and Jigawa.

Daily Sun quoted him as saying that the project has been extended to 100 LGAs in eight states with the addition of Kano and Yobe states in 2017.

The minister said: “It is, therefore, worthy to note that Dass local government is the first among the implementing LGAs in the state and the second local government in the country to achieve this notable feat.

“A glimpse of the water, sanitation and hygiene sector in Nigeria  through WASH diagnostic report by the World Bank in 2017 shows that, while the country made significant progress in the provision of safe water supply in the past decade, which contributed to socio-economic development and poverty reduction in the country, the same cannot be said of sanitation and hygiene.”

He said that the federal government has developed the National Open Defecation road map aimed at eliminating open defecation by 2025, adding that the ministry was providing sanitation and hygiene facilities in public places across the country, with special consideration for the North East as part of the ministry’s response to the emergency situation in the area.

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