NAN-AE-4
Defecation
By Tosin Kolade
Abuja, June 1, 2017 (NAN) Dass Local Government Area in Bauchi is set to become the second local government area to be declared open defecation free, after Obanliku in Cross River.
A member of the National Task Group on Sanitation, Mrs Chizoba Opara, disclosed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Thursday.
Opara spoke on the sidelines of the National Task Group on Sanitation meeting to review the activities of the group, which held in Abuja.
She hinted that Dass council would soon be certified open defecation free, following the report of the Open Defecation-Free (ODF) validation held in Jigawa and Bauchi States.
According to her, out of the 351 communities in the council, 85 per cent of them have been validated and certified ODF.
Opara commended the Emir of Dass, Alhaji Bilyaminu Othman for enforcing sanctions on those who failed to build and use their toilets, saying this had made it possible to attain this goal.
“Out of the 351 communities in the LGA, 85 per cent were verified and we saw that they all abided by the ODF protocol to ensure that they build and use their toilets.
“We want to commend the Emir for his passion to see to it that people don’t defecate in the open, he also came up with sanctions to punish those who fail to abide by the law.”
Opara said the achievement would be celebrated, adding that ending open defecation in the country was part of the Federal Government’s commitment to ensure a clean environment before 2025.
According to her, the adverse effect of open defecation is a major cause of deaths and illnesses in children, especially among under-fives.
It will be recalled that the document on the National Roadmap on Making Nigeria Open Defecation-Free by 2025.
NAN reports that the document on National Roadmap on making Nigeria Open Defecation Free by 2025 shows “Improved Sanitation and Hygiene are fundamental to child-survival, socio-economic development and wellbeing at large’’.
The report maintained that access to improved sanitation had declined over time, with no fewer than 70 million people lacking access to improved sanitation and more than 45 million of them practicing open defecation in Nigeria.
The report emphasised that Community-Led Total Sanitation had been proven to be an effective approach toward accelerating sanitation access in the country, having grown from 15 ODF communities in 2008 to over 14,000 in 2016.
The Minister of Water Resources, Mr Suleiman Adamu had said that Nigeria was among the nations in the world with the highest number of people practicing open defecation.
He said that the practice was having negative effects on the well being of the populace.
Adamu added that the cost benefit of investment in sanitation and health, economic and education sectors could not be over-emphasised, noting that this would contribute to the nation’s economic growth. (NAN)
TAK/MOL/EEE
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Edited by Mustapha Lamidi/Ese E. Ekama