UNICEF has blamed worsening sanitary situation for the spread of diseases in Nigeria, saying about one hundred million people lacked access to sanitary toilets.
This is coming as the Federal
Government said 2,771 cases of
cholera epidemics was reported this
year with 124 deaths.
Speaking first at the celebration of
World Toilets Day, UNICEF Chief
Sanitary, Water and Hygiene Officer,
Kannan Nadar described the situation
in Nigeria as very critical.
He said, “Nigeria has about one
hundred million people without
access to toilets, this is worrisome,
as it is possible for everyone to own
toilet, it doesn’t cost much.
“Sanitation and toilets are
fundamental human rights. since it is
possible for everyone to own toilet, it
is not justified for people to die of
diseases related to open defecation.”
Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi
Chukwu, said the recent occurrence of
cholera epidemics could be stopped if
there was a mechanism to stop open
defecation.
He said, “as many as an estimated
2771 cases and 124 deaths with case
fatality rate of 4.5 per cent were
reported, this yearly occurrence of
cholera epidemics could be stopped if
there is a mechanism to stop open
defecation which will prevent
contamination of water sources and
foods that are major causes of
cholera in the country."
The minister who was represented by
the Permanent Secretary in the
ministry, Amb. Sani Bala assured the
gathering that government was
working on a policy that will
encourage communities and urban
centres to embrace good sanitary and
hygiene system.
Head of Governance, WaterAid
Nigeria, Tolani Busari expressed
concern that barely two years to the
Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs), Nigeria was yet to address
the problem of poor sanitation.
According to her, “staggering 37
million people still practice open
defecation, nearly 100,000 children
under the age of five dying of diarrhea
in Nigeria every year as a result of
poor sanitation and water.”
She expressed concerns over how
government was handling of
sanitation, arguing that the nation’s
poor handling of sanitation issues is
not just restricted to hygiene, but
that, “without a private toilet, women
and girls are vulnerable to violence,
intimidation and indignity. Women
and girls living in Nigeria without
toilet facilities spend about 3.1
billion hours each year finding a
place to go to toilet in the open.
“Sanitation has always been the
most neglected and off-track of the
MDGs, with little funding, resources or
political will to address the crisis.
There has been little or no progress
towards the agreed target of
allocating 0.5 per cent of GDP to
sanitation."
http://www.worldstagegroup.com/worldstagenew/index.php?active=news&newscid=12112&catid=44

Must the figure always be 100m coz in the other report anoda Internationl agency claimed that 100m Nigerians live below the poverty line.
Abi its the same 100m Nigerians that also lack access to toilets?

What's up with these bogus figures Nigeria is not even up to 170mil ..it's an estimate

100m don't have access to toilet in Nigeria?
No wonder we are in deep sheet!

they shld give ngige an award for building 300m vip toilets in anambra.