71 Million Nigerians Lack Access To Good Toilet

President, Earthwatch International, Mr. Peter Cookey has decried a situation where about 71 million Nigerians do not have access to good toilet facility describing the development as a major sanitation challenge.

Mr. Cookey in an exclusive chat with The Tide also said about 3.6 billion people globally lack access to good sanitation, while 2.6 billion don’t have access at all. And 1 billion people do not have enough of sanitation facilities.

The EarthWatch boss while aquoting statistics from a United Nations based research also said two-third of the affected population reside in Africa, a continent he said that is worse hit then any in the world.

He lamented that Rivers State is seriously affected because of urban decay and attitude of the populace.

Calling government to initiate policies to check the malaise, Mr. Cookey who is a Senior Lecturer in the Rivers State College of Health in the Department of Public and Community Health stressed the need for good governance.

The expert noted that there is no way government can succeed without the support of the populace since sanitations and health of the populace are tied together.

While calling for the introduction of House-to-House inspection, he argued that new laws and policies need to be evolved to meet current challenges.

Also he submitted that the UN had declared 2008 as International Year of Sanitations to draw the attention of governments and policy makers to the need of good sanitations.

The EarthWatch president also called on government to provide a sewage treatment plant, observing that the surrounding rivers and creeks around the city of Port Harcourt have been polluted by untreated sewage dumps.