BY JIDE AYOBOLU<\/p>\n
_THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF PRESIDENT MUHAMMADU
\nBUHARI IS COMMITTED TO PUTTING AN END TO OPEN DEFECATION IN THE COUNTRY,
\nTO THIS END, __PRESIDENT MUHAMMADU BUHARI SIGNED EXECUTIVE ORDER 009
\nENTITLED, THE OPEN DEFECATION-FREE NIGERIA BY 2025 AND OTHER RELATED
\nMATTERS ORDER, 2019. THE ORDER DECLARES AS FOLLOWS:_<\/p>\n
_ 1.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0THAT BY THIS ORDER, NIGERIA IS COMMITTED TO BEING OPEN
\nDEFECATION FREE BY 2025._<\/p>\n
_ 2.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 THAT THE NATIONAL OPEN DEFECATION FREE (ODF) ROADMAP DEVELOPED
\nBY THE FEDERAL MINISTRY OF WATER RESOURCES WITH SUPPORT FROM OTHER KEY
\nSECTOR PLAYERS ACROSS NIGERIA BE PUT INTO EFFECT._<\/p>\n
_ 3.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 A. THERE IS ESTABLISHED IN THE FEDERAL MINISTRY OF WATER
\nRESOURCES A NATIONAL SECRETARIAT CALLED \u201cCLEAN NIGERIA CAMPAIGN
\nSECRETARIAT\u201d.\u00a0 _<\/p>\n
_\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 B. THE SECRETARIAT IS AUTHORIZED ON BEHALF OF THE PRESIDENT
\nTO IMPLEMENT THIS ORDER BY ENSURING THAT ALL PUBLIC PLACES INCLUDING
\nSCHOOLS, HOTELS, FUEL STATIONS, PLACES OF WORSHIP, MARKET PLACES,
\nHOSPITALS AND OFFICES HAVE ACCESSIBLE TOILETS AND LATRINES WITHIN THEIR
\nPREMISES._<\/p>\n
_ 4.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0ALL MINISTRIES, DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES (MDAS) OF GOVERNMENT
\nSHALL COOPERATE WITH THE CLEAN NIGERIA CAMPAIGN SECRETARIAT._<\/p>\n
_ 5.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY AND THE STATE HOUSES OF ASSEMBLY SHALL
\nENACT LEGISLATION ON THE PRACTICE OF OPEN DEFECATION WITH APPROPRIATE
\nSANCTIONS AND PENALTIES._<\/p>\n
_ 6.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 ALL DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS SHALL INCLUDE THE CONSTRUCTION OF
\nSANITATION FACILITIES AS AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE APPROVAL AND
\nIMPLEMENTATION PROCESS._<\/p>\n
_ 7.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0THE SECRETARIAT SHALL TERMINATE WHEN NIGERIA IS DECLARED OPEN
\nDEFECATION FREE._<\/p>\n
_ 8.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 ALL ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITIES ARE HEREBY DIRECTED TO DILIGENTLY
\nCOLLABORATE WITH THE FEDERAL MINISTRY OF WATER RESOURCES IN IMPLEMENTING
\nTHIS ORDER._<\/p>\n
_EXECUTIVE ORDER 009 CAME INTO BEING AGAINST THE BACKGROUND THAT_<\/p>\n
_ _<\/p>\n
_NIGERIA IS RANKED SECOND AMONGST THE NATIONS IN THE WORLD WITH THE
\nHIGHEST NUMBER OF PEOPLE PRACTISING OPEN DEFECATION ESTIMATED AT OVER 46
\nMILLION PEOPLE \u2013 A PRACTICE WHICH HAS HAD A NEGATIVE EFFECT ON THE
\nPOPULACE, AND HAS CONTRIBUTED TO THE COUNTRY\u2019S FAILURE TO MEET THE
\nUNITED NATIONS MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS (MDGS); PRESIDENT BUHARI HAD
\nDESCRIBED THE STATISTICS ON OPEN DEFECATION AND ACCESS TO PIPE-BORNE
\nWATER SERVICE AND SANITATION AS DISTURBING, AND HAD DECLARED COMMITMENT
\nTO IMPLEMENT THE NATIONAL WATER SUPPLY, SANITATION AND HYGIENE (WASH)
\nACTION PLAN; THE PRESIDENT HAD DECLARED A STATE OF EMERGENCY ON
\nNIGERIA\u2019S WATER SUPPLY, SANITATION AND HYGIENE SECTOR, THE ACTION IS
\nIMPERATIVE AS IT WILL REDUCE THE HIGH PREVALENCE OF WATER-BORNE DISEASES
\nIN DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE COUNTRY WHICH HAVE CAUSED PREVENTABLE DEATHS;
\nNIGERIA HAS COMMITTED TO END OPEN DEFECATION THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY BY
\n2025 IN CONSONANCE WITH HER COMMITMENT TO THE UNITED NATIONS SUSTAINABLE
\nDEVELOPMENT GOALS (SDGS); THIS EXECUTIVE ORDER TAKES EFFECT FROM
\nWEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2019._<\/p>\n
It is imperative to underscore the fact that, eighty-two per cent of the
\n1 billion people practising open defecation live in just 10 countries:
\nIndia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Sudan, Niger, Nepal,
\nChina, and Mozambique. The numbers of people practising open defecation
\nare still rising in 26 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, though they have
\ndeclined in Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. In Nigeria, numbers
\nof open defecators increased from 23 million in 1990 to 39 million in
\n2012.<\/p>\n
Globally, some 1.9 billion people have gained access to improved
\nsanitation since 1990. However, progress has not kept up with population
\ngrowth and the Millennium Development Goal target on sanitation is
\nunlikely to be reached by 2015 at current rates of progress. The
\nintergovernmental Open Working Group on the post-2015 Sustainable
\nDevelopment Goals have recommended that the new goals include a target
\nof achieving adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all and
\nending open defecation by 2030.<\/p>\n
Defecating in open fields, bushes and bodies of water is widely
\npractised in Nigeria. Indeed, the country is one huge field, where
\npeople defecate without shame and without taking into consideration the
\nimpact of their actions on the health of others. In many rural
\ncommunities, people still build houses without provisions for toilets,
\nor as the case may be, latrines, where waste can be emptied without
\nothers coming into contact with it. In urban centres, such cases are
\nalso pervasive. In many of our so-called modern cities, people use the
\noutdoors as bathrooms and toilets. Many walkways and nearby bushes reek
\nof urine and decaying faecal matter.<\/p>\n
Yet experts have consistently warned that when large numbers of people
\nare defecating outdoors, it\u2019s extremely difficult to avoid ingesting
\nhuman waste, either because it has contaminated the food or water
\nsupplies or because it has been spread by flies and dust.\u00a0 According to
\nthe joint UNICEF and the World Health Organization report previously
\npublished on the issue, the absence of toilets remains one of the
\nleading causes of illness and death among children. The report said that
\ndiarrhoea, a disease often associated with poor sanitary conditions, and
\nrespiratory infections resulting from poor hygiene, kill about 400,000
\nchildren under the age of five annually. These deaths are largely
\npreventable with improvements in water, sanitation and hygiene. Nigeria
\nis the second-largest country after India with over 66 million of its
\npopulation defecating in the open.<\/p>\n
The Federal Government has disclosed that over 70 per cent of Nigerians
\nlacked sanitation facilities, while about 40 per cent grappled with
\nwater challenges.\u00a0 About 70 million people, out of a population of 171
\nmillion, lacked access to safe drinking water, and over 110 million
\nlacked access to improved sanitation in 2013. Open defecation rates, at
\n28.5 per cent pose grave public health risks. Every year, an estimated
\n124,000 children under the age of 5 die because of diarrhoea, mainly due
\nto unsafe water, sanitation and hygiene. Lack of adequate water and
\nsanitation are also major causes of other diseases, including
\nrespiratory infection and under-nutrition.<\/p>\n
Many schools in Nigeria lack safe, private toilets and hand-washing
\nfacilities. This affects enrolment and performance, particularly in the
\ncase of girls. The impact of water, hygiene and sanitation falls
\ndisproportionately on women and girls, the main carriers of waters.
\nUNICEF has contributed to the eradication of guinea worm disease. In
\n2013, Nigeria was certified free of the disease. By comparison, 653,620
\ncases of guinea worm disease were recorded in Nigeria in 1988. The
\neconomic impact of poor sanitation and hygiene cost the Nigerian economy
\nthe equivalent of almost 1.3 per cent of gross domestic product.
\nConflict and natural disasters exacerbate the situation. According to a
\nWorld Bank 2012 Report, about 122,000 Nigerians including 87,000
\nchildren under-five years die annually from diarrhoea, nearly 90 per
\ncent being directly attributed to water, sanitation and hygiene.<\/p>\n
The term ‘open defecation’ is used in literature about water,
\nsanitation, and hygiene (WASH). Open defecation can cause severe health
\nand environmental problems. High levels of open defecation are usually
\nlinked to high child mortality, poor nutrition, poverty, and large
\ndisparities between rich and poor. Ending open defecation is listed as
\nan indicator for measuring sustainable development goals. Extreme
\npoverty and lack of sanitation are statistically linked. Therefore,
\neliminating open defecation is thought to be an important part of the
\neffort to eliminate poverty. People may prefer open defecation based on
\ntraditional cultural practices or lack of access to toilets, or both.
\nEven if toilets are available, behavioural change efforts may still be
\nneeded to promote the use of toilets. The term “open defecation” became
\nwidely used in the water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) sector from
\nabout 2008. This was during the publications of the Joint Monitoring
\nProgramme for Water Supply and Sanitation (JMP) and the UN International
\nYear of Sanitation. More awareness was generated.<\/p>\n
Open defecation is not only a social stigma but also a factor
\ncontributing to violence against young girls and young married women. As
\nper a study sponsored by Water Aid in selected slums in Lagos, a quarter
\nof women, defecating in open, had either first or second-hand experience
\nof harassment, a threat of violence or actual assault in the previous 12
\nmonths and over two-thirds felt unsafe using a shared or community
\ntoilet in a public place. As per a World Bank Report (2012), Nigeria
\nloses NGN 455 billion or US$ 3 billion annually due to poor sanitation.
\nThis works out to US$ 20 per capita\/year and constitutes 1.3% of
\nNigeria’s GDP. According to the same report, open defecation alone costs
\nNigeria over US$ 1 billion a year. The market potential of sanitation in
\nthe country is huge. If the 46 million people that defecate in the open
\nat present opt for a toilet, the demand for material and labour, on a
\nconservative estimate, will work out to NGN 1250 billion or over US$ 8
\nbillion.<\/p>\n
According to the National Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) (2013),
\n37% of Nigerian children, under 5 were stunted (height for age), 18%
\nwasted (weight for height) and 29% under-weight (weight for age).
\nAccording to the same study, while the percentage of stunted children
\ndeclined between 2003 and 2013, there was an increase in the percentage
\nof wasted and underweight children. Studies have shown that a large part
\nof malnutrition burden owes to the unhygienic environment in which the
\nchildren grow up. One of the major reasons for iron deficiency anaemia
\n(IDA) among adolescent girls and young mothers is found to be worm
\ninfestation that is attributed to open defecation. An anaemic mother, in
\nall probability, will deliver a low-birth-weight baby not only
\nendangering the life of the newborn but also the mother. It is,
\ntherefore, not surprising that one in every fifteen Nigerian children
\ndies before reaching his\/her first birthday and one in every eight does
\nnot survive to see his\/her fifth birthday.<\/p>\n
_THEREFORE, IT A WELCOME DEVELOPMENT THAT THE PRESIDENT HAS DEEMED IT
\nFIT TO SIGN THE EXECUTIVE ORDER AS A BENCHMARK FOR STOPPING OPEN
\nDEFECATE IN THE COUNTRY; BY BUILDING NEAT AND STANDARD TOILETS ALL-OVER
\nTHE COUNTRY AND ENSURING THAT CONSTANT WATER SUPPLY IS MADE AVAILABLE,
\nTHROUGH THE INSTRUMENTALITY OF THE CLEAN NIGERIA CAMPAIGN. UNDOUBTEDLY,
\nOPEN DEFECATE IN AN EYESORE OF THE NATION.___<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BY JIDE AYOBOLU _THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF PRESIDENT MUHAMMADU BUHARI IS COMMITTED TO PUTTING AN END TO OPEN DEFECATION IN THE COUNTRY, TO THIS END, __PRESIDENT MUHAMMADU…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":64595,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-70558","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles-opinions"],"yoast_head":"\n