By Pius Awunah
The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has called on residents to collaborate with it to end the practice of open defection in the territory.
The Acting Director, Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB), Mrs. Kate Ogbonna, who made the appeal while addressing a group of solid waste management contractors at the Agency’s headquarters in Abuja noted that over two billion people worldwide had no access to modern toilets with Nigeria contributing close to forty-seven million to the statistics.
“About 47 million Nigerians still practice open defecation, urination, poor sanitation and unhygienic practices.
“In the Federal Capital Territory, a lot of the residents still defecate openly due to challenges of non-availability of toilets in different homes as well as public places,” she said.
Mrs. Ogbonna called on residents to curb the menace by building houses with toilet facilities included in the plan.
“As you are aware,the government can not provide enough toilets for all residents. The communities and individuals should help to provide modern toilets in their existing houses and also include them in their new building plans to curb the menace and backward practice of open defecation, “she added.
According to her, the practice of open defecation is a menace that has continually posed health threats leading to outbreaks of diseases like cholera, diarrhea, diphtheria, water and air pollution in several places across nations, especially Africa, Asia and the Latin America.
“The chances of being bitten by snakes; stung by scorpions injured by broken bottles or other sharp dangerous objects are so high while excreting in the bush,” she stated.
She said that going by global standards, Nigeria would need to work five times as hard as possible to meet up with other nations to have a world free of open defecation and its attendant health challenges.
“We must ensure that we are not left behind; we must change our attitude and culture of going into a nearby bush to defecate.
“W are here to draw the attention of the people who are left behind in maintaining good sanitation to the social, economic and environmental consequences of inaction. The culture of using bushes around residential areas has to stop, “the AEPB boss added.
She reiterated the Board’s determination to take the sensitisation campaign to all the nooks and cranies of the FCT, such as communities, schools, and markets.
According to her, the FCT Administration was committed to addressing open defecation and sanitation challenges in line with Mr. President’s declaration of a state of emergency on water, sanitation and hygiene across the nation.
