Nigeria ranked 3rd in open defecation globally

 Nigeria is now ranked among the top three countries in the world with the largest numbers of people practising open defecation, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) specialist,  Mainga Moono Banda has said.  In her presentation at the opening of a two-day WASH media dialogue organised by UNICEF and EU […]

 Nigeria is now ranked among the top three countries in the world with the largest numbers of people practising open defecation, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) specialist,  Mainga Moono Banda has said. 

In her presentation at the opening of a two-day WASH media dialogue organised by UNICEF and EU in partnership with the Federal Ministry of Information in Akwa, Anambra State on Monday, Mainga stated that from the 2017 MICS survey, over 46 million people still practised Open Defecation (ODF) in Nigeria as 33 million of this figure live in the rural areas.

"130 million across the country use unapproved sanitary facilities, more than half live in the rural area while 45,000 children die annually from disease caused by poor access to water, sanitation and hygiene."

She said WASH plays a critical role in improving  health, nutrition and hygiene in Nigeria adding for Nigeria to meet up its SDG goal 6 on water and sanitation  by 2030, provision of safe and adequate hygiene that would curb issues of water borned and sanitation related diseases would be reduced.

"Despite all effort, sanitation is declining instead of improving and this calls for concern. The trend in water availability between year 200 and 2015 revealed that the gradients is going up instead of declining same with sanitation especially in the rural area."

She said the goal is, "we are not leaving anyone behind in achieving the target whether in the rural or urban area."

The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed at the workshop stressed the importance of WASH in the life of a child. 

Lai who was represented by a deputy director in the Ministry, Mr Olumide Osanyinpeju noted that clean water and sanitation are so essential for the survival and development of all children. 

"Water, Sanitation and Hygiene is very important in the life of a Child. The Sustainable Development Goal 6 clearly emphasises the importance of clean water and sanitation. Water and Sanitation are essential for the survival and development of all children, while simple Hygiene such as hand washing can save lives," he said.

He added that the issue of safe water and sanitation has been in the front burner of development issues in Nigeria because it affects a major segment of our society, a lot of whom are children.

He added that a lot of milestone has  been achieved but a lot still needs to be done considering the fact that we are yet to attain that level where we can confidently say that our communities all have safe water, sanitation and hygiene.