Abuja: Vice-President Kashim Shettima has called on the governors of Nigeria’s 36 states to intensify their efforts to eliminate open defecation within the next five years. This appeal was made during the 5th anniversary of the ‘Clean Nigeria: Use the Toilet’ campaign and the launch of the Revised Strategic Plan, held at the Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
According to News Agency of Nigeria, Shettima, represented by the Deputy Chief of Staff to the President, Sen. Ibrahim Hadejia, emphasized the importance of mobilizing high-level political support at the sub-national level to drive the campaign forward. He highlighted the economic opportunities within Nigeria’s sanitation sector, which could align with President Bola Tinubu’s administration’s renewed hope agenda, potentially creating jobs, providing alternative energy sources, and producing biological fertilizers.
Shettima stated, “It is against this background that the need to re-strategize the critical elements that will progressively i
ncrease our level of advocacy and awareness came to be. The new Strategic Plan for the Clean Nigeria Campaign is a comprehensive, actionable framework for Clean Nigeria that will help to actualize the call for reasonable access to use a toilet by the year 2030.”
He urged state governors to support the campaign at the state and local government levels to achieve an Open Defecation Free Nigeria within the next five years. Shettima also warned of the hazards posed by open defecation, describing it as a significant public health and environmental issue that compromises water sources, spreads disease, and adversely affects the quality of life, education, and economic productivity.
The Vice-President assured that the Tinubu administration is committed to ending open defecation in Nigeria as part of efforts to meet the Sustainable Development Goal 6.2 target, which aims to build a healthy and thriving nation. He also acknowledged the Federal Government’s initiatives, led by the Federal Ministry of Water Resources
and Sanitation, to close the gap in basic sanitation services.
Shettima expressed gratitude to stakeholders, including governors, local government chairmen, legislators, international partners, the private sector, civil societies, and the media, for their support.
The Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, Prof. Joseph Utsev, noted that the Campaign’s 5th anniversary coincided with World Toilet Day, a UN-designated day to accelerate the drive towards Open Defecation Free status globally. He recounted the launch of the ‘Clean Nigeria: Use the Toilet’ campaign in 2019, backed by Presidential Executive Order 009, to address Nigeria’s high number of individuals practicing open defecation, estimated at 48 million people.
Utsev highlighted the progress made, with 135 local government areas achieving Open Defecation Free status and over 30,000 communities certified as such. However, he acknowledged that the current progress rate is insufficient to meet the campaign’s 2025 target for nationwide advocacy.
Se
n. Eze Emeka, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Water Resources, commended the federal government and the Ministry of Water Resources and Sanitation for their efforts to sustain the campaign and set a goal to end open defecation by 2030.