World Toilet Day: 120m Nigerians have no access to decent toilet

Nigeria has been identified as one of the countries with lowest ranking in the world with access to basic water and sanitation, where currently 120 million people do not have access to a decent toilet and 40 million practicing open defecation.

Speaking at the World Toilet Day on Monday, the Country Director of WaterAid Nigeria, Dr Chichi AniagoluOkoye, said this contributes to the deaths of nearly 60,000 children under the age of five, every year, from diarrhoea which is one of the highest numbers in the world.

The director, represented by Blessing Sani, said the day is marked with the aim of ensuring everyone has safe toilet by 2030, in line with the targets of the Sustainable Development Goal 6, adding that Nigeria has made little progress in realizing the target as less than 1 million people per year are gaining access to basic sanitation.

According to her, the 2018 World Toilet Day with theme ‘When Nature Calls’, emphasizes the need for exploring nature-based solutions to the current sanitation challenges the people face as a nation and to provide sustainable resolutions through the functioning of natural systems.

Speaking, the Minister of Environment, Ibrahim Usman Jibril, represented by the Director of Special Duties, Mohammed Yakubu, said the theme is apt as it draws attention to the fact that people cannot avoid the call of nature and the environmental challenges associated with the poor management of toilet, feaces and sewage.

He said it also reawakens societal consciousness on the importance of having ecofriendly sanitary facilities in every household and ensuring proper management of sewage.