By Bisola Adeyemo
Nigeria’s Minister of Water Resources, Engr. Suleiman Adamu, Monday, announced the total number of Cholera cases in 33 states and the Federal Capital Territory last year (2021).
Adamu who spoke through the Director, Water Quality Control and Sanitation, Emmanuel Awe, said Nigeria recorded 111,062 cases of cholera with 3,062 deaths in 33 states including FCT, as a result of open defecation.
He attributed the situation to “the unpreparedness” of most states.
He noted that the workshop was to train and prepare the states on how to prevent the spread of cholera before the next rainy season.
He said all the state governors were being mobilized to put necessary measures in place to prevent the outbreak before the rainy season, daily trust reports.
“We’ve evolved the strategies of cholera prevention and elimination through the construction of water schemes, including boreholes and dams, to curtail the spread of cholera and related waterborne diseases, and the construction of toilets to reduce open defecation.
“As at 5th January this year, we’ve been able to record 76 local government areas out of 774 in the country that were entirely open defecation-free, in addition to thousands of other communities that are open defection-free,” he said.
The minister assured that the federal government would continue to support the states in the provision of institutions.
He, however, said the states were expected to own the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) and discharged their constitutional responsibilities.
