FG tells governors to intensify efforts to end open defecation in Nigeria
Abdullateef Fowewe
Vice President Kashim Shettima has called on state governors to redouble their efforts at making Nigeria open-defecation-free within the next five years.
He said the importance of the campaign cannot be overemphasised, as every step taken towards ending open defecation will improve health, boost productivity, and enhance the dignity and safety of Nigerians.
This was made known in a statement on Tuesday by the Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Publicity, Stanley Nkwocha.
Nkwocha stated that the Shettima made the call on Tuesday during the 5th anniversary of the “Clean Nigeria: Use the Toilet” campaign where he also formally launched the Strategic Plan at the Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Shettima who was represented at the event by the Deputy Chief of Staff to the President (Office of the Vice President), Senator Ibrahim Hassan Hadejia, enjoined state governments to be deliberate in mobilizing “high-level political support that would drive the campaign, especially at the sub-national level.”
The sanitation sector in Nigeria, he noted, has great economic opportunities for growth, explaining that aligning these opportunities with the renewed hope agenda of the administration of President Bola Tinubu can create jobs, provide alternative energy sources, and produce biological fertilizers.
Shettima said, “It is against this background that the need to re-strategise the critical elements that will progressively increase our level of advocacy and awareness came to be.
“The new Strategic Plan for the Clean Nigeria Campaign is a comprehensive, actionable framework for Clean Nigeria that will help to actualize the call for reasonable access to use a toilet by the year 2030.
“I, therefore, urge State Governors to provide the necessary support to drive the campaign at the State and Local Government Areas levels to achieve our target of an Open Defecation Free Nigeria within the next five years.”
The Vice President warned against the hazards of open defecation, saying it is “a critical public health and environmental issue that compromises our water sources, spreads disease, and negatively impacts the quality of life, education, and economic productivity of the populace”.
He said inadequate sanitation facilities to address open defecation pose a great risk, especially to women, girls, and vulnerable communities, assuring that the Tinubu administration is committed to the bid to end open defecation in Nigeria.
“The present administration is committed to the call for Open Defecation Free in Nigeria, as part of measures to meet the Sustainable Development Goal 6.2 target aimed at contributing to building a healthy and thriving nation. We are all aware that the Federal Government through the Federal Ministry of Water Resources and Sanitation rolled out several initiatives to bridge the existing gap of inadequate basic sanitation services,” he noted.
Shettima thereby applauded the support provided by stakeholders, especially state Governors, Chairmen of local government areas, national and state legislators, members of the international community, development partners, the private sector, civil societies, and the media.
