Nigeria Stands 99.95% short of Ending Open Defecation by 2025

Esther Oluku 

Nigeria currently stands at a 99.95% deficit in meeting the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) recommendation of an estimated 11 million toilets to end the menace of open defecation in the country.

This means that out of the 11 million toilet facilities needed to make Nigeria an open defecation-free state, it has only provided approximately 5,500, leaving a staggering 10,994,500 toilets yet to be built.

This is against a backdrop of the six-year Clean Nigeria: Use a Toilet campaign which started in 2019 by the Ministry of Water Resources and Sanitation in collaboration with UNICEF to end open defecation in Nigeria by 2025.

Speaking at a Private Sector Consultation on an Open Defecation Free Nigeria organised by UNICEF in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Water Resource, the Chief of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) UNICEF Nigeria, Dr Jane Bevan, explained that as Nigeria works towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goal 6.2, improving access to safely managed waste through the provision of sanitary facilities, especially toilets, is imperative.

Bevan noted that open defecation poses a myriad of negative health outcomes for people and communities, adding that to end this environmental threat, an estimated 11 million toilets would be needed to cater to about 48 million people who, according to the 2021 WASH NORM statistics, still resort to open defecation.

She said: “It is estimated that there are 48 million people without access to toilets. That means a whole lot of diseases in very unsanitary conditions. So far, there are 126 open defecation-free LGAs in the whole country and we need to rapidly improve that coverage. We need more public toilets so that people don’t have to resort to open defecation. 

“It is estimated that about 11 million toilets need to be built, that’s a lot of money that could be made in building those toilets. The government can’t do it alone, agencies like UNICEF can’t do it alone and private individuals can’t do it alone but together, we can make a huge difference. 

“There’s a whole revolving business around this that really can generate funds so I believe that involving the private sector is the way forward. The private sector can help in setting up toilets, particularly in urban settings, Lagos is an example, and they could also support business loans for small businesses to build up sanitation businesses.”

Giving the figures on how much has been achieved in this regard, the Director of Water Quality and Sanitation at the Federal Ministry of Water Resources and Sanitation, Mrs. Elizabeth Ugoh said, “Already we have about over 5,000 toilets provided by the federal government all over the country.”

In response, the Minister of State for Water Resources, Hon. Bello Muhammad Goronyo, addressing journalists on the sidelines of the event said that Nigeria needs an estimated $10 billion fund annually to provide basic Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) services in it’s drive to create an open defecation free Nigeria.

This figure poses a $ 9.85 billion increase from the annual requirement of $150 million outlined in the 2015 National Roadmap to end open defecation in Nigeria by 2025.

Goronyo noted the figure surpasses the ministry’s allocation and as such, private-sector collaboration is needed to scale up efforts to bridge the sanitation infrastructure gaps. 

He said: “The estimated amount that is required is $ 10 billion annually and this has surpassed our budgetary allocation. That is why we are seeking collaboration with the private sector to see how we can morph out funds and construct more toilets. 

“We advocate enlightening and sensitizing people to use the toilets they have already constructed in their homes, offices, and other workplaces.”