‘It poses environmental risks’ — Shettima asks governors to end open defecation in 5 years

Vice-President Kashim Shettima says governors of the 36 states in the country should provide the necessary support to end open defecation within the next five years.

Shettima spoke in Abuja on Tuesday at the 5th anniversary of the ‘Clean Nigeria: Use the toilet’ campaign and the launch of its revised strategic plan.

Represented by Ibrahim Hadejia, deputy chief of staff to the president, Shettima urged state governments to actively seek high-level political support for the campaign, particularly at the sub-national level.

He noted that the sanitation sector in Nigeria has great economic opportunities for growth.

The vice-president said aligning the opportunities with the renewed hope agenda of President Bola Tinubu’s administration could create jobs, provide alternative energy sources, and produce biological fertilisers.

“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,” Shettima said.

“The new strategic plan for the clean Nigeria campaign is a comprehensive, actionable framework for Clean Nigeria that will help to actualise 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 area levels to achieve our target of an open defecation-free Nigeria within the next five years.”

‘OPEN DEFECATION POSES PUBLIC HEALTH, ENVIRONMENTAL RISKS’

The vice-president warned against the dangers of open defecation, noting that it poses serious public health and environmental risks.

Shettima said inadequate sanitation facilities to address open defecation pose a great risk, especially to women, girls, and vulnerable communities.

He reassured Nigerians of the Tinubu administration’s commitment to ending open defecation as part of its efforts to meet the United Nations’ sustainable development goal 6.2, which aims to promote sanitation and hygiene globally.

“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,” he said.

“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.”

Shettima acknowledged the efforts of stakeholders, including governors, local government chairmen, legislators, international partners, the private sector, civil societies, and the media, in supporting the campaign.

Earlier, Joseph Utsev, minister of water resources and sanitation, said the 5th anniversary coincided with World Toilet Day, a UN initiative to accelerate the global effort to end open defecation.

He reminded attendees that the ‘Clean Nigeria: Use the toilet’ campaign, launched in 2019 under presidential executive order 009, was created in response to Nigeria’s position as one of the countries with the highest number of people practicing open defecation, estimated at 48 million.

“It is a transformative movement to end open defecation in Nigeria, and since its commencement, appreciable progress has been made over the past few years, with 135 LGAs having attended an open defecation-free status,” Utsev said.

“More state governments and local government areas are currently undergoing a verification process in line with the national protocol on open defecation-free, and over 30,000 other communities were certified as ODF.

“Despite all these attainments, the progress rate appears grossly inadequate compared to the campaign target date of 2025, which expects nationwide advocacy.”