*Suleiman Adamu, Minister for Water Resources, says slow progress being made in improving water and sanitation services in the country results from population expansion, low commitments from states and impact of COVID-19 pandemic

Alexander Davis | 绿帽献妻

A newly-released 2021 Water, Sanitation and Hygiene National Outcome Routine Mapping (WASH-NORM) III Report has indicated about 48 million Nigerians still practise open defecation in the country.

Mr. Suleiman Adamu, Honourable Minister for Water Resources, who noted this development at the inauguration of the 2021 WASH-NORM III Report Tuesday, June 21, 2022, in Abuja, FCT, said slow progress being made in improving water and sanitation services was due to population expansion, low commitments from states and impact of COVID-19.

Photo: UNICEF

绿帽献妻 reports the WASH-NORM is an annual national assessment of the status of water, sanitation and hygiene services aimed at covering the data gaps in the sector in Nigeria.

The fundamental objective is to provide data on WASH indicators to meet the needs of policy makers for better planning purposes.

The Minister, quoting excerpts from the new report, noted that the poorest households were 48 times more likely to practise open defecation than the richest households in the country.

Adamu also said: 鈥淔irst, the report presents encouraging news about the WASH targets in Nigeria, though with mixed bag of trends that calls for deep introspection.

鈥淭he results show clearly that access to basic water supply services is available to 67 percent of the population, at 92 percent access levels, the richest households are twice more likely to use, basic water supply services than the poorest households with 46 percent.鈥�

He further stated: 鈥淒isparities also exist between urban areas and rural areas, the most common sources of drinking water recorded by households were boreholes/tubewells, and only 11 per cent of the household population use pipe-borne water.

鈥淎bout a quarter of the population still depend on unimproved and surface water supply for their daily water needs, access to sanitation indicators across the country shows a slight improvement, though open defecation is still prevalent.

鈥淓vidently, 23 percent of the population (48 million people) still defecate in the open. People in rural areas (31 percent) are four times more likely to practice open defecation than those living in urban areas.鈥�

He urged states in the Federation to continue to complement the efforts of the Federal Government as it cannot be business as usual.

The Minister as well said that instances could be drawn to how the Federal Government had made huge investment in the water and sanitation sector with reports of vandalism, poor operation, and maintenance by the states.

According to him, the entire WASH sector might not be able to meet the sustainable development goals without a concerted effort by the states to be commensurate with the efforts made at the federal level.

Adamu said: 鈥淪o what we are trying to do now, also we have changed our strategy a little bit, using the FCT as a model, and to make it more advocacy-based.

鈥淏ut we have two states that are coming and working as seriously towards ending open defecation, I will like to really celebrate them when that happens.鈥�

Speaking at the event, Ms. Jane Bevan, the UNICEF Chief of WASH, said the survey had re-empahsised the challenges and gaps between current levels of access to WASH services and the goals set out in the National Open defecation-free road map.

Bevan stated: 鈥淲ASHNORM findings showed that only 16 out of the 28 state urban water utilities are fully functional, while only eight per cent of urban water utility consumers are metered at the time of the survey.

鈥淥pen defecation remains a challenge in the country with data from the WASHNORM 2021 survey showing that as many as 48 million Nigerians practise open defecation, representing 23 percent of the population.

鈥淚n spite of the efforts by government and partners at ending open defecation, the rapidly growing population is dwarfing the gains made so far, the outbreak of COVID-19 was an opportunity for increased effort in hygiene promotion.鈥�

Bevan also said achievement of results at scale would make significant difference in the WASH sector and move the country towards achieving SDG 6 in Nigeria.

The UNICEF Chief of WASH, however, commended efforts of the ministry at scaling up access to WASH, calling for sustainability of current strategies and ensure functionality of all WASH schemes.

In his remarks, Mr. Semiu Adeniran, Statistician-General of the Federation, also said the inauguration of the report was an important milestone in the National Bureau of Statistics鈥� (NBS) statistical production strategy.

This is geared towards meeting the needs of policy and decision makers, development partners, researchers and the wider public, he said.

Adeniran also noted: 鈥淲ASH is an integral part of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda which seeks to end extreme poverty in all its forms. Safe WASH is crucial to human health and well-being.

鈥淚t is not only a prerequisite to health, but contributes to the attainment of better livelihoods, school attendance and human dignity, and also, helps to create healthy environments for communities.

The vast amount of data collected under the survey would be used for strategic and efficient allocation of resources, as well as for developing and implementing well-targeted policies and programmes, he added.

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