113 million Nigerians defecate in the open

Speaking during a workshop organized by UNICEF (United Nation Children Fund) and WASH recently in Enugu, Mr Saaondo Anom noted that the problem is further aggravated by the fact that about 63 million Nigerians lack access to improved sanitation.According to him, unfortunately while these persons are relieving themselves in the open, they release over 10 […]

Speaking during a workshop organized by UNICEF (United Nation Children Fund) and WASH recently in Enugu, Mr Saaondo Anom noted that the problem is further aggravated by the fact that about 63 million Nigerians lack access to improved sanitation.
According to him, unfortunately while these persons are relieving themselves in the open, they release over 10 millions viruses into the environment which are responsible for several illnesses that are presently bedeviling various communities.
He said, “Do you know that a tea spoon of shit, or in other words a lethal dose, just one gram of human feaces can contain more than 10 million viruses, one million parasites,  1000 parasities cysts and 1000 parasities eyes.
“One can only begin to imagine the amount of infections we voluntarily release into the communities which in turn come to harm us.”
Advocating that most communities should imbibe the habit of constructing latrines so that the feaces would be properly disposed, he lamented that unfortunately Nigeria was not in the league of those countries that would meet the sanitation MDGs.
He explained that sanitation issues are not given any priorities in most budgets, saying monies are hardly allocated to cater for sanitation isssues.
“One of the greatest challenges of the WASH project is that it is donor funding driven, most government hardly fund or invest in water and sanitation services”.
“What is most unfortunate is the way and manner people take care of their hygiene, most people hardly wash their hands after use of toilets, those that often wash their hands neither use soap or ash, thereby not washing their hands properly.
“These little things that we take for granted can save our lives,” Anom said.