Kwara Reiterates Commitment to End Open Defecation

Hammed Shittu in Ilorin

The Kwara State Government has reiterated commitment to partner corporate bodies and individuals to put an end to open defecation in the state within the shortest possible time.

The state Commissioner for Water Resources, Mrs. Mopelola Abdulmaliq-Bashir, stated this in Ilorin yesterday while receiving in audience the Clean Nigeria Campaign Secretariat team from the Federal Ministry of Water Resources which paid her an advocacy visit in her office.

She said the partnership would also go a long  way in accelerating cooperation, support and dialogue that would strengthen the need to address the menace in the state.

The commissioner said  the launching of Clean Nigeria Campaign was not in a rush, adding  that  it requires all hands to be on deck to strengthen all the enablement, and further empower the campaign on  open defecation.

“Kwara is moving, and we are running a race, as the number one marathon in Nigeria, and we will not disappoint you definitely,” Abdulmaliq-Bashir added.

Speaking during the visit, the National Coordinator, Clean Nigeria Campaign and leader of the team, Mrs. Opara Chizoma, represented by the Deputy National Coordinator, Mr. Musa Lawal, applauded the state Governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, for his efforts and support to drive the campaign to end open defecation in the state.

According to her, “You will recall that the Clean Nigeria Campaign was launched in 2019 by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, and this was in response to Nigeria’s unfortunate position as the second country with the highest number of people practicing open defecation globally, estimated at 48 million person according to the 2021, WASH NORM report.

“The access to sanitation in Kwara State was 31 percent and 50 percent of its population still practice open defecation,” the coordinator noted.

The campaign, according to her, is aimed at mobilising high level political support, resources and the entire populace towards building a new culture of good sanitation practices in Nigeria.

Chizoma solicited the support of the state government to hasten up the implementation of the policy in the communities which had already commenced in Moro Local Government Area.

The primary aim of eliminating open defecation, she said, was to reduce WASH associated diseases and burden in order to ensure dignified  lives for the people of Moro and Kwara State in general.

Earlier, the General Manager, Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency (RUWASSA), Mr. Olorunfemi Oladipo, said the construction of five simple smart toilets in markets, motor parks and other public places is ongoing and being implemented across the five districts of Moro LGA.