Ministries Tasked On Water Sanitation Projects By House Of Reps
House of Representatives is urging for the ministries of Water Resources, Health and Environment to prioritize the efforts on aggressive rural water and sanitation projects with the aim of providing portable water and functional toilet facilities so as to achieve an Open Defecation Free (ODF) society.
The House is also resolved to establish a Legislative Caucus in Nigeria in order for it to be on par with its sister legislative bodies within the Sub-Saharan African region with the purpose of bringing together a diversity of shared knowledge as well as raising awareness on water and sanitation issues to create collective action on Open Defecation.
This has followed the adoption of the resolutions of a motion of urgent importance on the urgent need to address and tackle the challenges of ODF in Nigeria as moved by Hon. Sada Soli.
According to the House, Nigeria still tops the global league of countries with an open defecation prevalence of an estimated 47 million Nigerians that indulg in the practice. It also noted that there have been concerted efforts by both the Federal and State Governments to curb the incidence of open defecation across the country.
The House stated its awareness that as part of Government’s efforts to remove Nigeria from its unenviable world ranking in Open Defecation, President Muhammadu Buhari on the 20th November, 2019 signed an Executive Order 009 titled: “Open Defecation Free Nigeria by 2025 and other related matters.”
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The motion itself reads, “The House is also that there has been a call during the recent World Water Forum in Dakar, Senegal for the United Nations to establish a global platform for water to bring together political and economic decision makers, multilateral institutions, academia, civil societies and the private sector to find solutions to water and sanitation issues.
“The House is further aware that legislative WASH Caucuses is now in vogue in many legislative bodies in the West Africa sub-region as part of roles parliamentarians play in developing laws and policies to improve grassroots awareness and access to potable water and sanitation with a view to eradicate the menace of Open Defecation. The House is disturbed that Nigeria is at the brink of becoming the number one country with the highest number of people in the world practicing Open Defecation. The House is worried that efforts in the past to address the situation had yielded minimal results and if there is no concrete effort all and sundry, Nigeria will not be able to meet the projected target of the Executive Order 009 by 2025.
“The House is also that according to United Nations Children’s Fund sanitation in Nigeria is very poor with vast majority of people in rural areas lacking decent toilets and latrines which estimates about 122,000 Nigerians including 87,000 children under the age of five die every year from diarrhea, intestinal worm infections, cholera, hepatitis, typhoid and other preventable sanitation illnesses.
“The House is cognizant that if the current efforts are not improved upon, Nigeria may not achieve the Sustainable Development Goals No. 6 which intends to attain Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH).”
