Funding: Governors’ forum says ready to collaborate with WASH stakeholders
Funding
By Tosin Kolade
Abuja, Dec. 17, 2018 (NAN) The Nigeria Governor’s Forum on Monday pledged to advocate for more funds to be allocated to the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) to reduce disease burden of Nigerians.
The Head of the Secretariat, Dr Ahmad Abdulwahab, said this when he met with Mr Benson Attah, the National Coordinator of the Society for Water and Sanitation (NEWSAN) and his team in Abuja.
According to him, the forum is an umbrella body of governors working to improve good governance through programme implementation and peer reviews.
He said that it was regrettable that access to water and sanitation had been neglected but added that the forum would also continue to strive toward a positive change in the sector’s narrative.
Abdulwahab said that behavioural change would go a long way to encouraging people to build and use toilets to end open defecation, adding that positive behaviour played a significant role in sanitation and hygiene.
“We understand that by getting sanitation right, we are reducing disease burden in its entirety and cleanliness of a public toilet is proportional to development.
“That is why we urge your group to continue to advocate for sustainability of behaviour change.”
Abdulwahab commended efforts of some state governments at introducing private sector participation in scaling up sanitation, advising that other states should take a cue.
Earlier, NEWSAN expressed concern over the apathy of state governments toward improving their people’s access to water and sanitation.
He called on the state governments to prioritise the provision of WASH facilities, saying open defecation was still a common practice in the country.
Attah, however, commended the efforts of the Federal Government at improving the citizens’ access to water and sanitation, adding that a lot was still required to tackle the menace of open defecation in a holistic manner.
“Nigeria is presently being shielded by India; India is the number one country in terms of open defecation; once the country moves out from that unenviable position, Nigeria will be exposed to that embarrassment.
“We hope we are able to overtake India before it moves out of that list; it is saddening that Nigeria, as the giant of Africa, is leading Africa with regard to countries with the largest open defecation statistics.
“Globally, Nigeria is the second behind India in terms of countries with the highest number of people defecating in the open, while in Africa it ranks first,’’ he said.
The national coordinator urged the government to step up action to boost the citizens’ access to water and sanitation in addition to promoting hygiene through hand washing.
He also urged the states to provide potable water and access to sanitation to improve the health status of and wellbeing of their citizens.
According to him, lack of access to potable water and poor sanitation will invariably affect the people’s health, wellbeing and economic development.
The Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) 2017 reports reveal that 28.5 per cent of the Nigerians practice open defecation, while 110 million citizens do not have access to improved sanitation.(NAN)
TAK/OSA/GY
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Edited by Shittu Obassa/Grace Yussuf