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‘Nigeria Loses N455bn To Poor Sanitation’
WaterAid, an international non-governmental organisation (NGO), says Nigeria loses N455 billion of its GDP to poor sanitation annually, with other stakeholders, including a top government official and a health expert, concurring.
The organisation’s Country Representative in Nigeria, Dr Michael Ojo disclosed this in an interview with newsmen in Abuja.
“Not having access to clean water and good hygiene for us as a country, is costing us N455 billion every year from our Gross Domestic Product; so water and sanitation work for our economy.
“Good sanitation promotes health because if people don’t have access to clean water and use contaminated water, they get sick.
“It costs us a lot of money as a country to treat illnesses that we could prevent if we invest in the right facility,” Ojo said.
He also noted that good water and sanitation facilities would promote education because it is detrimental to any child’s future to use school hours in search of water.
Reacting on the economic impact of poor sanitation on the country, the Director, Water Quality Control and Sanitation, Federal Ministry of Water Resources,Dr Obioha Agada confirmed that the Federal Government lost “huge’’ amount of money due to poor sanitation culture.
Agada said: “A recent report had shown that inadequate water and poor sanitation costs the Nigerian economy N444 billion naira yearly.
“Poor sanitation not only contributes to environmental degradation, but also contributes significantly to the pollution of water; destroys fishes and the business of fishermen and adds to the cost of safe water.
“We are not relenting on our part to ensure a sustainable environment because presently the reports we get in the field show that the percentage of people with improved sanitation is increasing by the day,’’ he said.
He further said that national and state Task Groups on Sanitation were doubling efforts to improve sanitation at the grassroots.
On her part, the Executive Director, Women Environment Programme (WEP), Mrs Priscilla Achakpa, urged the Federal Government to properly capture sanitation in the constitution to boost development.
“It is rather unfortunate that the issue of sanitation has not been on the front burner of the Nigerian government both in terms of policy and programming until recently.
“Government should adequately capture sanitation in the federal constitution in order to improve the country’s development.
She advocated for waste management strategies that could would accrue economic benefits for the country and increase the country’s GDP per capita.
According to her, these strategies would enhance the capacity of Nigerians, thereby reducing poverty, and providing good sustenance of livelihoods for sustainable development.
“It is an understatement to state that Nigeria is losing such a huge economic benefit from the development and management of sanitation and waste.’’
“Solid and liquid waste can be used to create wealth and job opportunities for the thousands of unemployed Nigerian youths.
“It will reduce environmental and health hazards, especially in urban and rural communities and generate economic activities such as biomass, electricity through waste as it’s being done in other countries like India,” she said.
Echoing similar views, Nigeria’s Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Ambassador, Ms Ebele Okeke argued that if sanitation issues were tackled properly, the country would have a healthy workforce which would in turn ensure speedy development of all sectors.
Okeke emphasised the need for proper hygiene measures, through the construction of toilets and water points in schools and public places.
According to her, investing in sanitation could yield more than a 100 per cent profit.
In separate interviews with newsmen, residents of Karu, Nyanya and Garki said that indiscriminate disposal of waste in neighbourhoods due to the lack of dump sites, exposed them to all manner of health challenges.
When approached on the issue, the Abuja Environmental Protection Board said that the misuse of bins and poor hygiene attitude of residents were responsible for poor sanitation in the FCT.
Head, Information and Outreach Programme of the board, Mr Joseph Ukairo, noted that the board replaced the monthly sanitation with house -to- house inspection in order to check the trend.
He recalled that in the 1970s when sanitary inspectors conducted house-to-house’ inspections, various diseases noticeable today were not rampant.
He, therefore, cautioned residents to dispose their refuse properly and imbibe hygiene culture, especially in satellite towns, to reduce funds spent on waste management.
Also speaking, a health officer with the FCT Primary Health Care Development Board (PHCDB), Mrs Aisha Bakpet proposed the “Community-Led Total Sanitation” approach to communities that still practised open defecation.
She urged them to construct latrines in order to reduce diseases to help save money for their communities and the country at large.
In the same vein, a medical practitioner at the Nyanya General Hospital, Dr Chika Agu, said that poor sanitation and water services slowed health improvements in the country.
“ Hundreds of patients flood the hospitals daily for malaria, typhoid, and dysentery treatment because of poor sanitary conditions at home and in the workplace.
According to a 2010 data obtained from the National Bureau of Statistics on sanitation, only 9.4 per cent of the country’s waste were satisfactorily disposed, while 90.6 per cent of refuse were haphazardly disposed .
The bureau also recorded 42.5 per cent of safe water for drinking and cooking 57.5 per cent unsafe in the same year with only 58.3 per cent households having access to water.
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I’m Committed To Community Dev – Ajinwo
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RSG Tasks Rural Dwellers On RAAMP …As Sensitization Team Visits Akulga, Degema, Three Others

Rivers State Head of Service, Dr (Mrs) Inyingi Brown, has called on rural communities in the State to embrace the Rural Access and Agricultural marketing project (RAAMP) with a view to improving their living conditions.
This follows the ongoing sensitization campaign by the State Project Implementation Unit (SPIU) visits to Degema, Abonnema, Afam headquarters of Degema, Akuku Toru and Oyigbo Etche and Omuma local government areas respectively.
Dr Brown who was represented by the Deputy Director, Special Duties in her office, Mrs Dein Akpanah, said RAAMP was initiated by the Federal Government and World Bank to economically empower rural dwellers.s
She said the World Bank understands the plights of rural farmers and traders in the State, and therefore came up with the programme to address them.
According to her, RAAMP will improve the conditions of farmers, traders and fishermen, and therefore, behoves on every rural communities in the State to embrace the programme.
The Head of Service also said the programme would support the youths to be gainfully employed while bridges and roads will be built to link farms and fishing settlements.
Also speaking, the State project coordinator, Mr Joshua Kpakol, said the programme has the potential of creating millionaires among farmers and fishermen in the State.
Kpakol who was represented by Engr. Sam Tombari, said RAAMP would help farmers and fishermen to preserve their produce.
According to him, the project will build cold rooms and Silos for preservation of crops and fishes while access roads will also be created to link farmers and fishermen to the market.
He, however, warned them against any act that will lead to the suspension of the projects by the World Bank.
Kpakol particularly warned against acts such as kidnapping, marching ground, gender based violence and child labour, adding that such acts if they occur may lead to the cancellation of the project by the World Bank.
During the visit to Oyigbo local government area, Mr Joshua Kpakol, said the team was there to let them know how they will benefit from the Raamp.
The coordinator who was personally at Oyigbo said the World Bank introduced the project to check food insecurity in the State.
He said already 19 states in Nigeria are already benefitting from the project and called on them to embrace the project.
Meanwhile, stakeholders in the three local government areas have commended the World Bank for including their areas in the project.
They, however, complained over the incessant attacks by pirates on their waterways.
At Degema, King Agolia of Ke kingdom said land was a major problem in the kingdom.
King Agolia represented by High Chief Alpheus Damiebi said many indigenes of the kingdom are willing to go into farming but are handicapped by lack of land.
Also at Degema, the representative of the Omu Onyam Ekeim of Usokun Degema kingdom, Osoabo Isaac, said Degema has embraced the programme but needed more information on the implementation of the programme.
Similarly, while High Chief Precious Abadi advised that the project should not be narrowed to only crop farming, a community women leader, Mrs Orikinge Eremabo Otto, called for the construction of cold rooms in all fishing settlements in the area.
At Abonnema, Mr Diamond Kio linked the problem of the area to incessant piracy along waterways.
He also expressed fears over the possibility of the project being hijacked by politicians.
Also at Abonnema, a stakeholder, Ikiriko Kelvin, called on the World Bank to design an agricultural project that will suit the riverine environment, while at Oyigbo, HRH Eze Boniface Akawo expressed satisfaction with the project.
John Bibor
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Senate Replaces Natasha As Committee Chairman

The political mudslinging between the Senate leadership and Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan continued yesterday as the Senate named Senator Aniekan Bassey as the new Chairman of the Committee on Diaspora and Non-Governmental Organisations.
Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, announced the appointment during yesterday’s plenary, confirming Bassey’s replacement of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, who is currently on suspension.
Akpoti-Uduaghan was reassigned to the Diaspora and NGOs Committee in February after she was removed as Chair of the Senate Committee on Local Content during a minor reshuffle.
Bassey is the senator representing Akwa Ibom North-East Senatorial District.
Although no reason was given for her removal yesterday, the change is believed to be connected to her unresolved suspension.
In May, Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court ordered her reinstatement and directed her to tender an apology to the Senate.
However, the Senate has insisted it has not received a certified true copy of the court judgment.
Akpoti-Uduaghan who represents Kogi Central, has yet to resume her legislative duties despite a recent court ruling that voided her suspension.
In a televised interview on Tuesday, Akpoti-Uduaghan said she was awaiting the Certified True Copy of the judgment before officially returning to plenary, citing legal advice and respect for institutional process.
Although the Federal High Court described her suspension as “excessive and unconstitutional”, a legal opinion dated July 5 and attributed to the Senate’s counsel, Paul Daudu (SAN), argued that the ruling lacked any binding directive to enforce her reinstatement.
Akpoti-Uduaghan, one of only three female senators in the current assembly, said the continued delay in allowing her return was not only a denial of her mandate but also a blow to democratic representation.
“By keeping me out of the chambers, the Senate is not just silencing Kogi Central, it’s denying Nigerian women and children representation. We are only three female senators now, down from eight,” she said.
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