As FG plans to license $350m facility from World Bank
By Emmanuel Elebeke
The Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo says about 38 Local Governments out of 774 have so far attained Free open defecation status across the country.
He said the feat was attained in keeping with the national policy on clean Nigeria campaign against open defecation which is set to be eradicated in Nigerian by 2025.
The Vice President disclosed this on Thursday on the occasion of the Clean Nigeria: Use the Toilet campaign held at International Conference Center, Abuja.
According to him, the figure showed a significant increase from 16 which was recorded in the last one year when the campaign was launched.
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Recall that the ‘Clean Nigeria: Use the Toilet’ campaign was launched by the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo on 19th November, 2019 during the World Toilet Day, following which President Mohammadu Buhari signed Executive Order 009 on Open Defecation Free Nigeria by 2025 and other related matters.
Also, the Steering Committee of the Clean Nigeria Campaign was inaugurated under the chairmanship of the Vice President with membership drawn from representatives of relevant stakeholders to provide technical oversight to the implementation of the campaign.
Prof. Osinbajo noted that the campaign falls in line with Sustainable Development Goal 2, which hinges on water sanitation in line with world best practice.
He said the Federal government is committed to realization of the set target of making Nigeria free from open defecation by 2025 as evidenced in the proactive steps taken by the administration to realize the set goals.
He commended the state governments for taking the fight against open defecation to the next level improving access to sustainable wash services across the country through continuous advocacy to critical stakeholders.
He posited that the Clean Nigerian Campaign is achievable through a partnership among all stakeholders and urged all stakeholders to always prioritize wash services in their domain, charging them to bring out their best towards realizing the set target for clean Nigeria by 2025.
Earlier in his address, the Minister of Water Resources, Engr. Suleiman Adamu said the campaign is aimed at mobilizing high-level political support, resources, and the entire populace towards building a new culture of state and sustainable sanitation, and to achieve the target of making Nigeria open defecation by 2025.
The initiative he said demonstrated the strong political will of the Federal government in reversing the narrative on Nigeria’s unfortunate position being on the top of the ladder of countries with the highest number of people practicing open defecation globally.
According to him, access to basic water and sanitation services stands at 70% and 44% respectively which is marginal, which he described as an appreciable increase from the 68% and 42% reported in 2018.
Adamu further informed that the Federal Ministry of Water Resources has continued to intensify its effort in improving access to sustainable Wash services across the country through continuous advocacy to critical stakeholders for the needed buy-in.
According to him, the partnership for Expanded Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (PEWASH) programme, which was designed as a national collaborative instrument for the improvement of access to rural water supply and sanitation has been expanded to additional 12 states, while preparations are ongoing to start off a new sustainable Wash project to be licensed with a $350 million facility from the World bank.
In response to the roll-out of the Clean Nigeria Campaign, the Minister said some States have received their State Roadmaps with detailed implementation plans and budget, while some have rolled out their State level campaign.
‘‘State and LGA level Desk Officers have been nominated for the Clean Nigeria Campaign and the campaign Secretariat has been engaging with these structures to ensure progressive implementation across states.
‘‘The Secretariat has been providing technical support in building capacity at national and sub-national levels for implementation, verification, certification, and validation of open defecation from communities,’’ he added.
However, the minister noted that partnerships are being fostered with relevant agencies under the Clean Nigeria Campaign, one of such being with the National Orientation Agency to leverage on its nationwide structure through the Communication Orientation and Mobilization Officers in disseminating the key messages of the Clean Nigeria campaign.
He also informed that the ministry is working with the organized private sector in water, sanitation, and hygiene to leverage private sector investment to the sanitation sub-sector.
In recognition of the commitment of some LGAs, the minister said the Ministry will be prioritized for water supply interventions under PEWASH in accordance with the established program protocol.
While decrying the lack of commitment on the part of some state governments, he urged all the states to strive towards achieving the intended objectives of the Clean Nigeria campaign resulting in a healthy competition that will drive us as a nation towards our goal of ending open defecation by 2025.
The post 38 LGAs attain free defecation status — Osinbajo appeared first on Vanguard News.
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