By Mashe Umaru Gwamna
The Minister of Environment Balarabe Lawal, has called on the organized private sector and commercial entities to support the government by contributing their quota in the establishment of functional toilet facilities across the country for general public use to curb open defection .
He reminded all the
stakeholders that” the countdown to 2030 has begun and we must accelerate progress to ensure everyone has access to toilets by 2030”.
Lawal stated this at the 2023 World Toilet Day Commemoration held in Abuja, with the theme “Accelerating Change.
While soliciting for support from Development Partners, NGOs CSOs, the organized private sector, community Leaders and indeed everyone to promote good sanitation and hygiene practices for overall environmental health protection.
He said “This year’s theme is quite apt as it offers an opportunity for a public campaign that encourages behaviour change for positive action.
According to him “We are just seven years away from the target year of achieving SDG 6 on safe toilets and water for all by 2030 and as of today, we are seriously off track to meet that target in Nigeria”.
He explained that globally, more than 4 billion people are still living without safe toilets while 48 million people in Nigeria still practice open defecation.
“ This scenario of leaving so many people behind without safe toilets put in jeopardy the entire 2030 Agenda, with the poorest people, particularly women and girls, paying the highest price in terms of poor health, missed education, loss of productivity and general insecurity”.
“Many people in Nigeria still use the bush and water bodies as their regular means of excreta disposal”.
According to him, many institutions do not have sanitary facilities and where they exist they are either not functioning or misused.
He explained that most urban areas do not have sewerage systems and safe collection of sewage, which makes disposal a huge challenge as many of the water bodies including rivers and streams become a repository for sewage and wastewater.
Consequences Of Open Defection
He emphasized that one of the major consequences of poor excreta and sewage disposal is the high rate of diarrhea disease which is the second cause of high morbidity and mortality rates among children under the age of five. The persistent re-occurrence of annual incidences of cholera outbreaks in some of our states are also manifestations of inadequate toilet facilities.
Interventions/ Commitment by Federal Government
The minister stated that, there is a need for urgent and massive investment and innovation along the entire sanitation service chain. “Investment in the sanitation sector is good for public health and the economy”.
He noted that, the federal government of Nigeria has demonstrated practical commitment to addressing the sanitation challenges through the following actions:
“Declaration of State of Emergency on Water, Sanitation and Hygiene in the Country by Mr. President and the signing of Executive Order no 009 on Open Defecation Free Nigeria by 2025.
“Revision and validation of the 2005 National Environmental Sanitation Policy including its policy guidelines on safe excreta and sewage disposal by my ministry and national stakeholders. I will soon present the revised Policy to the Federal Executive Council for its approval.
“ Community-based intervention on the control of open defecation as well as the clean and green programmes of the Federal Ministry of Environment which are aimed among others at promoting the provision of safe and adequate toilets across the country, particularly in public places and ensuring proper excreta management in Nigeria”, he stated.
Regulatory Framework for Open Defection
The Minister said ‘I use this opportunity to inform you that issues of open defecation in Nigeria will no longer be business as usual as the Federal Ministry of Environment will henceforth deploy all its regulatory framework to ensure adequate enforcement of sanitation laws in the country.
“I therefore call on all Environmental Health Officers/Sanitary inspectors across all levels of government to step up their routine sanitary inspection of premises in their various jurisdictions and ensure that everyone everywhere in Nigeria has access to safe toilets”.
Advocacy, collaboration and Sensitization in Unity Schools
As part of the activities for the commemoration of this year’s event.
The Minister maintained that , his Ministry in collaboration with Federal Ministry of Education carried out advocacy, sensitization and sanitary inspection of Federal Government Unity schools in FCT.
He said findings from the sanitary inspection of Federal Government Unity schools in FCT revealed that :
“ Some of the toilets in the hostels in some of the schools visited were locked because they are not in good condition.
Poor or inadequate water supply in some of the schools which affects the use and access to toilets by the students who obviously practice open defecation as there are evidence of presence of excreta in the surrounding environment and
Defective septic tanks which can serve as breeding place for pests and vectors of public health importance such as mosquitoes, rats, snakes “.
Similarly, he called on the Unity schools across the country which may likely have similar sanitation challenges to take note and improve on their sanitation situation.
“ I wish to inform you all that my Ministry in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Education (FME) will continue with the sanitary inspection of government schools across the country and reward the cleanest school at the end of the exercise as one of the post-World Toilet Day commemoration activities. However, during the sanitary inspection of the Federal Government schools in FCT, I am glad to inform you that Federal Government College Rubochi and Federal Government College Kwali emerged as the cleanest schools in FCT for the 2023 World Toilet Day commemoration”, he emphasized.
Also speaking,the Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, Prof. Joseph Utsev, said the federal government will continue to engage all stakeholders and harmonize actions to end open defecation and improve sustainable and climate-resilient access to sanitation services in Nigeria.
“ I wish to use this opportunity to reiterate government’s commitment to support sub-national level initiatives towards ending open defecation and improving access to WASH services for the populace. This is borne of the recognition that the success of this campaign is dependent on strong engagement with States, LGAs and other Stakeholders to secure the needed political and high-level commitment required to drive the Campaign”.
Utsev reiterated that government is desirous of building more partnerships and collaboration within and across Sectors to ensure that the deliberate and sustained attention needed to end open defecation in the country is in place.
“I wish to enjoin State Governments to give continued priority to WASH as a developmental foundation required by their citizens.
“It is my belief that the joint efforts of the Government and Stakeholders at all levels in raising awareness on sanitation issues, mobilizing the needed resources for the provision of facilities and strengthening institutions will lead to the attainment of SDG Goal 6. It will as help institutionalise the needed behavioural change necessary for a healthy society and an economically buoyant nation”, he said.
Meanwhile, Representative of World Bank, Awa Diagne, said that the World Bank will continue to be an implementing partner with the government on its vision of having a Nigeria where everyone has access to safely managed sanitation services.
“We need to continue to push a mindset shift when it comes to sanitation, that is not just the affair of the hospitals, but we all have a role to play. We need more financing and capacity building and thinking about the whole sanitation service.”
Chief WASH officer of UNICEF Nigeria, Dr Jean Bevan, said the agency will continue to support the Nigerian government and private sector entrepreneurs to build more toilets. Happy World Toilet Day, and let’s please accelerate the change.
“Everybody needs to get involved. And we really need to build more toilets and we need to employ these private entrepreneurs to do it. So that’s where my support is lying. I think we really need to support these businesses more and more.
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