Nigeria Ranks High Among Nations With Open Defecation

A representative of the Federal Ministry of Water Resources, Mrs Chizoba Opara, has ranked Nigeria among nations on earth with the highest number of open defecators.
Mrs Opara, who stated this at a one-day workshop of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Understanding Science and Policies in Abuja, recently, specifically said that over 46 million Nigerians practise open defecation while 67% of the population have no access to sanitation facilities. She also said that collective efforts are needed to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) in water and sanitation.
According to her, “We must be committed and reconcile our actions and move forward as a collective effort to succeed.” Also speaking, Dr Emmanuel Akpabio of the University of Uyo decried the poor sewage system in the country, adding that the situation has contributed towards water pollution in parts of the country.
According to him, Nigeria’s inability to evolve practical and context relevant policies for WASH has hampered efforts to secure and sustain improved performance, especially in rural areas.
He further stated that it was a matter of regret that only Lagos, FCT and few states had functional sewage system saying this was a big challenge to safe drinking water and sanitary services.
He also stated that in addressing the challenges of the sector, deliberate policies to promote safe disposal of waste, strengthening political commitment would be of greater advantage.
Akpabio also called on all tiers of government to accelerate progress towards meeting the sanitation and hygiene needs of the populace.