By VICTOR ADEOTI
According to the World Health Organisation/United Nation’s Joint Monitoring Programme on Water Supply, Open defecation is the practice of relieving oneself in fields, bushes, bodies of water and other spaces.
Public health experts say defecating in the open is an affront to dignity and risk to children’s to community health.
The elimination of open defecation is recognised as a top priority for improving health, nutrition, and productivity of developing countries’ population and is explicitly mentioned in SDG target 6.2.
Water, Sanitation and Hygiene experts also said that the practice of open defecation has been a global concern for decades, with several countries struggling to eliminate this practice.
They note that defecation poses significant public health risks; contaminated water sources, the spread of diseases, and environmental degradation are just some of the many consequences.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), open defecation is responsible for over 432,000 deaths annually due to diarrheal diseases.
On Nov. 20, 2019, former President Muhammadu Buhari, signed “Executive Order 009” to end the practice by 2025 in the country.
The Executive Order entitled “The Open Defecation-Free Nigeria by 2025 and Other Related Matters Order 2019, is aimed at making Nigeria open defecation free in two years.
The Order 009, which took immediate effect, provides among others that by this Order, Nigeria is committed to being open defecation free by 2025.
It also provides that the National Open Defecation Free Roadmap developed by the Federal Ministry of Water Resources with support from other key sector players across Nigeria be put into effect.
It also stipulates that there should be is established in the Federal Ministry of Water Resources a National Secretariat called ‘Clean Nigeria Campaign Secretariat.’
“The secretariat is authorised, on behalf of the President, to implement this Order by ensuring that all public places including schools, hotels, fuel stations, places of worship, market places, hospitals and offices have accessible toilets and latrines within their premises”, it states.
However, in Nigeria, open defecation remains a deeply ingrained practice.
Today Nigeria ranks number one globally among countries with the highest number of people who defecate in the open space, overtaking India in the ranking in 2019 according to Mr Monday Johnson, UNICEF WASH specialist.
Therefore, the question posed by Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) experts is how feasible is for Nigeria to be open defecation-free Nigeria by 2025?
For instance, Jane Bevan, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Chief of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) said the Federal Government of Nigeria needs to build at least 39 million toilets annually to end open defecation practices in Nigeria by 2025.
Bevan, who spoke at the opening of a two-day Maiden Toilet Business Owners Conference in Abuja recently, said unfortunately Nigeria’s current construction rate is between 180,000 to 200,000 toilets annually.
Also, WASH-NORM, an annual national assessment on the status of water, sanitation and hygiene services, in its 2021 Water, Sanitation and Hygiene National Outcome Routine Mapping (WASH-NORM) III Report, revealed that about 48 million Nigerians still practice open defecation.
It said 95 million others have no access to basic sanitation services.
The WASH report also revealed that about 1.3 per cent of GDP or N455 billion is lost annually due to poor access to sanitation, healthcare savings and productivity.
The WASHNORM report listed Ebonyi 73 per cent, Plateau 56 per cent, Kogi 56 per cent, Oyo 54 per cent, Kwara 50 per cent, Kebbi 50 per cent, Enugu 48 per cent as states with highest open defecation rates.
It says others are: Niger 36 per cent, Nasarawa 36 per cent, Benue 35 per cent and Bayelsa 45 per cent as states with highest open defecation rates.
As part of efforts to achieve the 2025 target, UNICEF says it will continue to partner with the Federal Government to tackle open defecation in Nigeria
In a two-day media dialogue workshop entitled “open defecation free in Southwest states Nigeria”, recently held in Ibadan, Johnson said that Nigeria could not continue the usual practice of open defecation, if it is ready to meet the national deadline of 2025 open defecation free society.
Johnson said that with two years to the country’s 2025 target, as of August 31, only a total of 105 local government areas out of the 774 are open defecation free.
He said Jigawa state is the only state in the country where all the Local Government Areas are open defecation free.
According to him, others are; Anambra-1, Akwa -Ibom-1, Bauchi-8, Benue-9, Borno-2, Cross-Rivers-6, Kano-11, Kaduna-7, Katsina-25, Osun-1, Yobe-1, Zamfara-3, and Imo-1.
Johnson said for the country to reach its target of open defecation free society, there is need for increased investments and targeted funding for sanitation and hygiene.
He note that it is worrisome that most states are yet to establish WASH in all the LGAs and that Nigeria cannot continue business as usual or it will miss the target of 2025
Johnson expressed worry that Nigeria might not be open defecation by 2025 and will maintain its top rank as the country with the highest number of population practicing open defecation.
“The overall vision of UNICEF Nigeria water, Sanitation and Hygiene programme is to support the federal government.
” To ensure that by 2027, more Nigerians, especially those in vulnerable situation realise their right to safely manage drinking water, sanitation and hygiene services through improved access to affordable, sustainable and safely managed sanitation and hygiene services”, he said.
On the health implications of open defecation, the WASH Specialist said that open defecation spreads disease quickly and can lead to death.
He explained that the health impact of open defecation is that it can cause stunting, wasting and malnutrition in children.
“Studies have shown that more than 100,000 children under 5 years of age die each year due to diarrhoea and other water Sanitation and hygiene-related diseases.
“It can also lead to loss of dignity, privacy and security as people can be attacked in the process of going to the bush to defecate”, he said.
He further explained that open defecation can also lead to low productivity as frequent episodes of WASH-related diseases cause absence from school or work as affected people take time off to heal.
For Johnson, until every Nigerian plays their part, the country may not achieve its open defecation status by 2025 target.
The experts also say though the Executive Order 009 on open defecation free by 2025 was commendable, its poor implementation might make the 2025 target seem unlikely.
Public health experts that Nigeria target to end open defecation by 2025 may remain a mirage if government and other stakeholders fail to embark emergency programmes. (NANFeatures)
