The Minister of Environment, Alhaji Balarabe Lawal, has said that Nigeria is facing a sanitation crisis due to shortage of toilets and poor sewage management system, which has posed threats to the natural environment and health of citizens.
Lawal, who spoke during a press conference in Abuja to preview the World Toilet Day on November 19, Thursday, alongside his Water Resources and Sanitation counterpart, Prof. Joseph Utsev, said toilets were a foundation to public health and a cleaner and safer environment.
The minister decried that despite the importance of toilets, they are underfunded, poorly managed and neglected in Nigeria and many other developing countries, with dire consequences for health, economics and environment.
He said, “Right now, about 4.2 billion people in the world live without safe toilets and about 48 million Nigerians still practice open defecation, as many people still use the bush and water bodies as their regular means for excreta disposal. Many institutions, public and private, do not have sanitary facilities and where they exist, they are either not functioning or misused.”
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The minister, however, said the federal government is committed to addressing the sanitation challenges in the country and ensuring proper management of excreta.
Prof. Utsev on his part said over 100 million Nigerians lack access to basic sanitation.
He, however, said the Tinubu administration recognises that access to adequate Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) services is a critical factor for the socio-economic development of the country.
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