The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has called on all states and Local Government Councils (LGCs) in the country to adopt strategy to rid the nation of Open Defecation (OD).
TBI Africa said Mr Bioye Ogunjobi, Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Specialist, UNICEF, made the appeal in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Kano.
He spoke on the sidelines of a media dialogue on sanitation with a theme: “Clean Nigeria: Use the Toilet”.
The dialogue was organised by UNICEF in collaboration with the Child Rights Information Bureau of the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture (CRIB), and supported by the European Union and UK Department for International Development (UKAid).
Ogunjobi recommended building of toilet facilities by all households across the country and ensuring their usage irrespective of age as part of the strategy to be adopted.
He decried the rate of open defecation in the country and urged all LGCs yet to be Open Defecation Free (ODF) to prioritise the construction of toilets in their communities and ensure all persons practice safe defecation.
He, however, noted that only 11 out of the 774 LGAs in the country have been certified ODF and described the number as a drop in the ocean.
The LGAs, according to him, are located in the states of Jigawa, Bauchi, Benue and Cross River.
Ogunjobi specifically identified the 11 ODF LGAs as Ikom, Yala, Obanliku, Yakur Boki and Berkwara in Cross River, Dass and Warji in Bauchi, Birnin Kudu and Buji in Jigawa and Logo in Benue states.
According to him, if we must achieve ODF by 2025 and ensure a healthy nation all hands must be on deck.
On the benefits of being ODF, the WASH specialist listed them as dignity, health, economic development, improved productivity and increased school enrolment.
“I urge OD LGAs to learn from ODF LGAs in order to gain the accrued benefits,’’ Ogunjobi said.
He emphasised that before those communities were ODF, there were episodes of disease outbreaks including diarrhoea.
“Any LGA yet to be ODF need to learn from those that have become ODF; there is rapid reduction of diarrhoea diseases in those LGAs.
“Before they became ODF, we are not comfortable being in those communities each time we visited because of the stink, now, the story has changed.
“The populace are happy about that and it has really impacted on their dignity as human beings.
“People in those communities are much healthier because they are practicing safe defecation.
“Therefore, everybody in Nigeria need to build and use toilet in their domain and nobody should practise open defecation anymore,” he said.
