Yemi Olakitan
Minister of Water Resources, Suleiman Adamu, has stated that states’ attitudes and inadequate governance culture in the water and sanitation sector may prevent the country from reaching its 2025 goal of being open defecation-free (ODF).
Adamu made this statement on Monday in Abuja at the start of the national retreat for states on the “Clean Nigeria: Use the Toilet” campaign.
He said, “We have offered every help and will continue to do so, but for the country to advance very far, we need that political level, the highest level in the states. But I keep saying that once the populace has the political will to take control of this campaign and make it their own, it will run itself.
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“We are therefore waiting for the country, not just the state governments, but also the people themselves, to take ownership of this effort and recognize that sanitation is a personal responsibility.”
The minister emphasized the need to review all plans and objectives for putting an end to open defecation and to address budget shortages because doing so would alter public perceptions of the impoverished.
The fact that Nigeria was able to establish more than 100 ODF LGAs, according to Mr. Oumar Doumbouya of UNICEF’s Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Specialist, is remarkable.
He said that considering Nigeria’s importance to the region, this was still a significant accomplishment for West Africa.
