Shettima urges governors to end open defecation by 2029

Vice President Senator Kashim Shettima on Tuesday implored governors of the 36 states to double campaign efforts to make Nigeria open defecation-free in the next five years.

Shettima argued that every step taken towards ending open defecation will improve health, boost productivity, and enhance the dignity and safety of Nigerians.

“I, therefore, urge state governors to provide the necessary support to drive the campaign at the state and local government areas levels to achieve our target of an Open Defecation Free Nigeria within the next five years,” he said during the 5th anniversary of the “Clean Nigeria: Use the Toilet” campaign at State House, Abuja.

He also formally unveiled the Strategic Plan.

Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Communication, Stanley Nkwocha, disclosed details of the meeting in a statement he signed Tuesday titled ‘Intensify efforts to end open defecation in Nigeria, VP Shettima urges governors.’

Shettima, who was represented at the event by Deputy Chief of Staff to the President (Office of the Vice President), Ibrahim Hadejia, urged state governments to be deliberate in mobilising “high-level political support that would drive the campaign, especially at the sub-national level.”

He argued that Nigeria’s sanitation sector holds great economic opportunities for growth. Therefore, aligning these opportunities with the renewed hope agenda of the Tinubu administration can create jobs, provide alternative energy sources, and produce biological fertilisers.

The VP stated: “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.

“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.”

The Vice President cautioned against the hazards of open defecation, saying it is “a critical public health and environmental issue that compromises our water sources, spreads disease, and negatively impacts the quality of life, education, and economic productivity of the populace.

He said inadequate sanitation facilities to address open defecation pose a great risk, especially to women, girls and vulnerable communities, assuring that the Tinubu administration is committed to the bid to end open defecation in Nigeria.

“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.

“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,” he stated.

Shettima applauded the support provided by stakeholders, especially state Governors, Chairmen of local government areas, national and state legislators, members of the international community, development partners, the private sector, civil societies, and the media.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, Prof. Joseph Utsev, said the 5th anniversary of the Campaign aligned with the World Toilet Day set aside by the United Nations to accelerate the drive towards Open Defecation Free in countries around the world.

He recalled that the “Clean Nigeria: Use the Toilet” campaign was launched in 2019 under the national programme to end open defecation in Nigeria and is backed by Presidential Executive Order 009.

Prof. Utsev explained that the unfortunate position of Nigeria informed the campaign as one of the countries with the highest number of people practicing open defecation, estimated at 48 million persons.

His words: “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 have attended an Open Defecation status.

“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.”

In his goodwill message, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Water Resources, Eze Emeka, thanked the Federal Government for coming up with the campaign for clean water and ending open defecation, saying no one should lose focus of the target to terminate it in 2025.

Emeka commended the FG through the Ministry of Water Resources for creating the initiative to sustain the campaign and setting the target to end the menace in 2025.