The Federal Government has urged states and local government areas to embrace the Campaign on Open Defecation.
The Minister of Water Resources and Rural Development, Mr Suleiman Adamu made the call in his keynote address at the official inauguration of a project tagged “Catch them Young – on Open Defecation (ODF)” and public presentation of books on ODF.
The programme was organised by the Clean Nigeria: Use the Toilet Campaign Committee for Schools in FCT, in collaboration with the Zubbond Publication Limited, Abuja.
Represented by Mr Emmanuel Awe, Director, Water Quality Control and Sanitation, Adamu called on states and local governments to embrace the initiative as one of the ways the campaign could be owned by the citizens.
He said the involvement of states and local government areas would make everyone and school children take part in the competition.
He said the Clean Nigeria Campaign, remained a transformational movement aimed at mobilising citizens to meet the end ODF target in Nigeria by 2025.
“The campaign which was launched two years ago, is gradually gaining high level support by politicians and the populace toward building a new culture of safe sanitation.
“It is our desire to aggressively mobilise the entire country to end the practice of ODF.
“Nigeria is placed on the global map as the country with the highest number of people indulging in the act, estimated at 46 million people.
“Only 14 per cent of schools have basic water supply and sanitation services, leaving over 80 per cent without access. This is a very huge gap.
“The ministry is striving toward improving the indices on water sanitation and hygiene through stakeholders’ engagement and committing available resources to address the gap in the sector,” he said.
Adamu said that some of the intervention efforts of the Federal Government through the ministry included the National Action Plan for the Revitalisation of the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) sector.
The National Coordinator of Clean Nigeria Campaign (CNC), Mrs Opara Chizoma, said the ODF campaign targeted students because they did not forget things easily.
She described students as agents of change the country was looking up to, to bring the desired change Nigeria yearned for.
“We must sing the change on ODF everywhere we go, hence the slogan “Catch them young”, we are not happy with the 46 million Nigerians said to be involved in open defecation,” Chizoma said.
The Publisher of Zubbond books, Mr Zubbe Onyemaechi said the inauguration of the project necessitated the book presentation to corroborate the campaign against ODF.
He said the executive order on campaign against ODF had been signed by Vice-President, Yemi Osinbajo as Order 009.
Onyemaechi said the vice-president through the Order, mandated Nigerians to join the rest of the world in the campaign to make the country ODF free before 2025.
“To carry everybody along in the campaign, children must be involved, because they put interest in what they hear, see and listen to.
“The two books entitled: “Tania Queen of Open Defecation Free” and “Muna the Handwash Ambassador” are for the children to read.
NAN