World Toilet Day: FG Task Individuals, Organizations on Sanitary Facilities

Ahead of the 2023 edition of World Toilet Day, the Federal Government has urged individuals and organizations to be more involved in the efforts to provide functional toilets in buildings and places where they are needed.

The Charge came to fore at a joint Ministerial Press Briefing organized by the Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Works and Housing and the Ministry of Water Resources and Sanitation Thursday in Abuja, the Nation’s Capital.
Addressing members of the press, the Minister of Environment, Mallam Balarabe Lawal Abbas said the theme, “Accelerating Change” inspires every individual to take personal action to improve toilets and sanitation systems”, lamenting that about 48 million Nigerians still practice open defecation.
The sanitation crisis, he stressed, posed a threat to “our natural environment and the health of citizens, particularly women, girls and other vulnerable groups. One of the major consequences of poor excreta and sewage disposal is the high rate of diarrhoea disease.”
Also speaking, the Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, Engr. Prof. Joseph Terlumun Utsev, said the Nigeria had initiated several interventions under the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) programme to ensure provision of adequate sanitation facilities in line with the Sustainable Development Goal 6.
He added that the Federal Government was committed to ensuring that “our sanitation value chain starting from containment to transport, treatment and disposal or reuse are improved and strengthened for sustainability.”
In attendance at the briefing were the Hon. Minister of State for Water Resources and Sanitation, Barrister Bello Muhammad Goronyo; Representative of the Minister of Works and Housing; Director General of the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA), Mr. Idris Olubola Musa and Mr. Abdulsalam Isa who represented the Director General of NESREA.