The Federal Government says the country is close to meeting the Open Defecation Free (ODF) target by 2025.
Minister of Water Resources, Mr. Suleiman Adamu, who said this in a function in Bauchi State also declared local government councils in Bauchi State as open defecation free.
Represented by his permanent secretary, Dr. Musa Ibrahim, the minister said the feat was achieved in partnership with other implementing partners, adding that it showed that Nigeria was close to meeting the ODF target by 2025.
Adamu said the Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Diagnostic Report by the World Bank showed that Nigeria had made steady progress in the provision of safe water.
He, however, expressed concern that the nation had not made corresponding progress in sanitation and hygiene sector.
The minister, who said efforts in the past to address sanitation challenges yielded minimal results, assured that that a critical look at the issues showed that it would not be business as usual.
He said the ministry had launched the Partnership for Expanded Water Sanitation and Hygiene (PEWASH) programme to seek stakeholders’ commitment to improve access to WASH, especially in the rural areas.
The minister said the ministry had started providing sanitation and hygiene facilities in the country with special consideration for the North-East, as part of its responses to the humanitarian needs of the people.
“The benefits of access to WASH facilities, especially of living in an Open Defecation Free environment, impacts on the education, health, security and socio-economic wellbeing of the people.
“In this regard, I wish to commend the people of Dass Local Government Area for their commitment toward behavioural change,” he said.
He urged the people of the area to be steadfast in such behaviour, adding that a relapse would deny them the inherent benefits of WASH facilities.
Permanent Secretary, Bauchi Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency (RUWASSA), Mr Garba Magaji, said the celebration marked a significant milestone in the history of the state over 15 years ago.
Magaji said with collaborative partnership with other stakeholders, the state had been able to have 351 communities working with hygiene promoters to sustain practices through the Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) approach.
He said hand washing, at critical times with tippy taps, was now being practiced in 70 schools, with no fewer than 21,198 households imbibing same practice for overall hygiene promotion.
The permanent secretary said it was worthy of note that no one in the entire local government defecates in the open.
He asserted that the impact was already being felt with the reduction in visits to hospitals and an increase in pupils’ attendance and completion of schools.
Magaji pledged the commitment of the agency to sustain the ODF status by moving up toward attaining the total sanitation status of improving the quality of households and public toilets, and over hygiene promotion in the state.
Bauchi State Commissioner for Water Resources, Mr Suleiman Ayuba, said the achievement was worthy of celebration.
He said the feat was made possible with support from the U.K. Department for International Development/UNICEF in its Sanitation, Hygiene and Water in Nigeria (SHAWN) project.
Ayuba thanked the donor agencies and partners for their commitment toward scaling up sanitation and hygiene in the state.
The commissioner said that Warji and Gamawa Local Government Areas were also working to meet the ODF status.
Mr Drissa Yeo, of UNICEF Nigeria Field Office, said the agency was honoured to be part of the celebration, following the concerted efforts put in over the years.
Yeo commended the Bauchi State Government and the people of Dass Local Government Area for their commitment to move up the sanitation ladder.