Open defecation: Nigeria ranked second in the World — FG

THE Federal Government, yesterday, lamented that the country ranked second amongst all nations in the world still practising open defecation. The Minister of Water Resources, Suleiman Adamu said this at the commissioning of Kamomi Aketi accelerated water scheme at Ayede Ogbese community in Akure, Ondo State.

Adamu said: “The country today still has significant challenges of access to adequate Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene, WASH. *Once upon a time: Open defecation in Bauchi “Recent statistics from WASH-NORM, National Outcome Routine Mapping, Survey indicate that about 67.9 % of our population have access to improved water supply from all sources while 41.5 % have access to basic sanitation facilities. “The consequences of lack of access to adequate water supply and sanitation are huge in terms of economic losses, high prevalence of water related diseases, reduced school enrolment and attendance, loss of dignity, more risks of insecurity and violence against women and children. “Governments at all levels need to work extra hard to put a stop to all these avoidable consequence in our dear country.” Earlier, Governor Rotimi Akeredolu  said the scheme was part of the state government’s efforts to meet the Sustainable Development Goal, SDG, by 2030. Akeredolu said: “As part of our avowed commitment to improving the wellbeing of our people, our administration embarked upon a two-prong approach to revitalize Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) in Ondo State with special focus on rural and urban water supply utilizing slightly different strategies. “We, therefore, came up with Kamomi Concept which has brought on board the ongoing rehabilitation of all non-functional boreholes.”

Credits: Vanguard