By Fatima Saka
As Nigeria prepares to host the commemoration of 2022 World Toilet Day, Minister of Water Resources, Engr. Suleiman H. Adamu has released action plans to end open defecation by 2025.
This was made known when the Coordinator, Clean Nigeria Campaign, Mrs Chizoma Opara, spoke in an interview with NatureNews.
The interview further highlighted some critical sessions of the OPF ahead of 2025, which has been flagged in 2019 and signed in 2022 by President Muhammadu Buhari.
The campaign in collaboration with the National Orientation Agency has trained community mobilization officers in all 774 LGAs and sensitization is going on at grassroot levels.
In line with the commitment of the ministry of water resources to achieving its mandate on Open Defecation Free (ODF) by 2025, Mrs Opara, said that the ministry has advanced a National Strategy to End Open Defecation in Nigeria by 2025, and the document was launched in 2016, with the flag-off of the National Campaign in November, 2019.
Speaking further, She said that the Executive Order 9 that was signed by Mr President which includes the Secretariat designed to coordinate the campaign and a Steering Committee that was inaugurated, also to incur oversight function.
The Coordinator outlined the following as the actions plans to end open defecation by 2025:
“The ministry is working with the National Assembly to establish a prohibition law against Open Defecation and urination before the next action”.
“The ministry will also collaborate with different MDAs, partners and private organizations”.
“The ministry campaign will cover five (5) thematic areas: Policy and Coordination, Advocacy and Communication, Programme implementation, Monitoring and evaluation and Fund mobilization”.
“The overview of the campaign is nationwide publicity, engaging communication consultants, including the development of campaign materials such as messaging and jingles”.
“Also the campaign will incorporate the Sanitation Marketing/Resource mobilization Consultant and also develop a market based sanitation and strategy to mobilize funding for the campaign”.
The ministry is working with all the State and Local Governments and other relevant Private Sectors to achieve ODF, in order to address the menace of Open Defecation.
According to Mrs Opara, a lot of states are reviewing their strategies and roadmaps with adequate funding plans.
“States are also enacting laws prohibiting Open Defecation while LGAs are also enacting bye-laws against Open Defecation”.
“States and LGAs are also developing and running jingles with concrete plans to work with law enforcement officers”.
“A lot of plans to engage with the private sector are all ongoing. Nigerians in Diaspora are also having plans to support the campaign”.
“The Organized Private Sector in WASH is leading the private sector campaign.”
