By Bisola Adeyemo
The Minister of State for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Dr. Ramatu Tijjani Aliyu, said government is set to ensure open defecation practice end among FCT residents before 2025.
Aliyu stated this while performing the official declaration of a state of emergency in Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH), on Tuesday in Abuja.
In a statement issued on Tuesday by her Special Assistant on Media, Mr Austine Elemue, the minister was quoted as saying, “39.4 per cent of the FCT population practises open defecation; this is alarming and unacceptable.
“To achieve the goal of ending open defecation by 2025, all hands must be on deck in both the formal and informal sectors.
“To achieve the goal of ending open defecation by 2025, all hands must be on deck, both at the formal and informal sectors. The children, the youth, women and the elderly, all have important roles to play.
“Community-based organisations, religious and traditional leaders, organised private sector, development partners as well as all government agencies are also expected to work in synergy to fight this menace,” she said.
“Additionally, our traditional institutions across the territory are expected to galvanise their subjects in this fight.
“Community and household members are enjoined to cooperate with relevant stakeholders and rise to own this war against open defecation in their respective communities,” she added.
The minister also said that her administration will accelerate access to safe water and improved hygienic practices for all residents of the territory.
Aliyu also disclosed that FCT administration has established Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency (RUWASSA) as the coordinating body for WASH activities in the area, as part of efforts in the battle against open defecation.
The minister, therefore, expressed FCTA’s commitment to meeting the open defecation free (ODF) target before the nationally set target of 2025, and the universal access to water and sanitation by the SDG target of 2030.
In his contribution, Minister of Water Resources, Engr Suleiman Adamu, said that the country was making steady progress in meeting the objective of curbing open defecation by 2025 and improving sustainable access to sanitation and hygiene.
Adamu, therefore, urged the institutions at the area councils and communities to drive the campaign through the provision of adequate resources, thereby creating the critical mass of champions across the territory.