Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has said the Buhari administration is prioritizing the Clean Nigeria Campaign because its success contributes to enhancement of social inclusion, poverty reduction, business growth, and entrepreneurship.
The Vice President said this on Thursday in his remarks delivered virtually at a ceremony organized to mark the first anniversary of Clean Nigeria: Use the Toilet Campaign.
Osinbajo said apart from the main goal of ending open defecation across the country, the campaign would also facilitate greater access to quality education and affordable healthcare, among others.
He said “the role of the private sector is critical in building a virile sanitation economy which will drive the sustenance of the results being achieved under the Clean Nigeria Campaign.
“In our desire to aggressively mobilize the entire country towards ending the practice of open defecation, we have identified Campaign Ambassadors to support the national drive towards open defecation free status”
Prof. Osinbajo however noted that “ending open defecation is not just about access to toilets. It is about generating demand for toilets and changing people’s behaviour regarding toilet usage. The Clean Nigeria Campaign as a transformational and behaviour change campaign will require the contribution and commitment of everyone: government at all levels, civil society, private sector, development partners and the entire populace in building a new culture of safe sanitation.”
Presidential spokesman, Laolu Akande, said the campaign to end open defecation in Nigeria was launched about a year ago to galvanize efforts from both public and private sectors to promote water, sanitation and hygiene in the 774 Local Government Areas (LGAs) across the country, stressing that 33 LGAs are known so far to be open defecation free.
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