According to information provided by UNICEF, 669 Local Government Areas in Nigeria still allow open defecation.
On Wednesday in Azare, during a media discussion on World Toilet Day 2023, Dr. Clement Adams, the Officer-in-Charge of UNICEF Field Office, Bauchi, revealed this.
Of the 774 LGAs in Nigeria, Adams said that only 105 have been verified as Open Defecation Free, or ODF.
He expressed his congratulations to Bauchi State’s Katagum Local Government Area for achieving ODF status.
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“It proves that we can make significant progress when we collaborate,” Adams said.
To discourage open defecation, it is essential that better restrooms be available in homes, public areas, schools, and medical facilities.
He stated that UNICEF, in partnership with other relevant parties, had employed toilet business owners as incentives to promote sanitation in an effort to tackle the issue of open defecation.
He clarified how these initiatives had helped achieve the UN’s goal of ending open defecation while also improving income generation and creating jobs.
He claimed that the accomplishment of an open defecation-free status nationwide was greatly aided by the efforts of community-based organisations like the WASH committees.
In addition to commemorating World Toilet Day, he extended a warm welcome to media professionals and interested parties to the Media Dialogue, stating that it provided a platform for celebrating successes with Ugandans.
Adams demanded that more be done to improve access to sanitary facilities in order to support safe, clean, and healthy neighbourhoods.
“Every year, the World Toilet Day is observed to raise awareness of the obvious benefits of clean, safe restrooms in our daily lives, particularly with regard to health, education, and, of course, socioeconomic development,” the speaker explained.
In order to emphasise the path towards accomplishing “SDG 6- Clean Water and Sanitation,” this year’s WTD theme is “Accelerating Change.”
We need to redouble our efforts if we are to fulfil the sanitation aim of SDG 6, which is to provide safe toilets and water for everyone by 2030. We are roughly seven years away from 2030, the worldwide target for the SDGs.
In a previous statement made during the Media Dialogue, Nuhu Zaki, the Commissioner for Water Resources, gave assurance that the state government was committed to working towards achieving both the state-wide ODF by 2025 and the Sustainable Development Goal 6.2 target.
According to Zaki, ODF broad has been attained in eight of the state’s LGAs: Dass, Warji, Shira, Gamawa, Bogoro, Ganjuwa, Toro, and Katagum LGAs.
Two more LGAs, Bauchi and Zaki, were at a different stage of becoming ODF, he disclosed. “An additional 5934 communities were delivered ODF.”
The state government of Bauchi State was complimented by Adamu Sabo, the acting general manager of the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency (RUWASA), for taking many measures to maintain the notable progress.
Sabo stated that as part of the state government’s sustainability initiative, 116 toilet investors, 582 masons, and 194 toilet business owners (TBOs) had received training on how to build better latrines in both public and residential settings around the state.
A total of 113,092 upgraded restrooms were built around the state as a consequence of TBOs, Masons, and Toilet Investors increasing their capacity, according to the RUWASA Acting GM.
