The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, has stated that the federal government will do his best to ensure that open defecation is stopped in the country due to the level of havoc it caused to in the country.
Mohammed stated this in Jos, Plateau State, on Tuesday in a two-day media dialogue and workshop organized by the Federal Ministry of Information in conjunction with the United Nations Children’s Fund.
The minister who was represented by the Deputy Director in the ministry, Olumide Osanyinpeju, stated that the government have great concerns or the people especially children who are vulnerable to diseases.
Mohammed said: “Open defecation is incredibly dangerous, as contact with human waste can cause diseases such as cholera, typhoid, hepatitis, polio, diarrhoea, worm infestation and under nutrition. We must double our current efforts in order to end open defecation by 2030.”
He urged the media to help create better awareness on the dangers of open defecation.
Also, UNICEF Chief for Water and Sanitation Hygiene in Nigeria, Zaid Jurji, in a paper presentation, revealed that 60 million Nigerians lack access to portable water.
He pointed out that 88% of the diarrhoea cases in the country was caused by open defecation and lack of potable water.
Jurji lamented that the Nigerian population who lack portable water was half population of Canada.
He said: “25 per cent of Nigerians practice opens defecation without potable water. That population is more than half population of Canada.”
He urged the Nigerian government to invest more in water and sanitation.
Earlier, the Plateau State Commissioner for Water, Resources and Energy, Ja’afaru Wuyep, commended UNICEF for filling in the gap where government could not reach it citizens.
Wuyep assured that Plateau will continue to invest for the development of its citizens, in the especially in the welfare of children and encourage other sectors to key in the policy.
He said: “When we invest in children, we are correcting the past, and making the future right.”
He commended UNICEF for coming to their aide. “UNICEF has been the major partners to Plateau State in our human challenges, as a government, we will continue to partner UNICEF”.
He said: “Our partnership with UNICEF is necessary. We have seen positive results on our people, UNICEF are everywhere in the rural areas assisting our people.”
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