Mr Bioye Ogunjobi, a Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Specialist with UNICEF, has called on state governors to ensure commitment in sanitation services and access to water supply in the country.
Ogunjobi made the call while delivering a report on the end of the UNICEF funded Sanitation, Hygiene and Water (SHAWN II) programme at the monthly meeting of the National Task Group on Sanitation on Wednesday.
Ogunjobi who spoke to the News Agency of Nigeria noted that it was worrisome that many states were not showing enough commitment to improving access to potable water and sanitation in the states.
He noted that it was time the Federal Ministry of Water Resources spearheaded and influenced states governors to respond to increasing needs in the WASH sector.
“As we all know, the momentum in the Federal level (Abuja) is very encouraging, but we don’t have the same momentum at the states level.
“In fact, we have very few states that are interested in combating open defecation, we have had governors of Jigawa, Katsina, Kaduna, Edo, Ekiti, Osun talking about it and taking the lead.
“In states like Cross River where we have wonderful platform with six LGAs that are open defecation free, we still do not have that kind of response that we expect from government.’’
Ogunjobi noted that the 2019 WASH National Outcome Routine Mapping (WASHNORM) showed that only two per cent of Abia and Zamfara state population practiced open defecation as against four per cent in Kano state.
According to him, there is the need to support and engage the private sector more in WASH service delivery, commending efforts of the Organised Private Sector for its present commitment.
