Nigeria to be Open-Defecation free by 2025- Buhari
President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday signed an Executive Order 009 which is titled ‘The Open Defecation-Free Nigeria by 2025 and Other Related Matters Order.’
The signing of the order is to ensure Nigeria becomes open defecation free by 2025.
According to a survey, about 46 million Nigerians reportedly practice open defecation making the country the second in the world with such unhealthy practice.
Only India ranked worse than Nigeria in the Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH NORM) survey
conducted by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
The Nigerian Ministry of Water Resources and National Bureau of Statistics took part in the Nigerian survey.
The survey also found that only 11 of the 774 local government areas in Nigeria are free from the practice of open defecation.
The order signed by President Buhari is expected to help address the menace.
In details of the order signed by spokesman, Femi Adesina, it “established in the Federal Ministry of Water Resources a National Secretariat called “Clean Nigeria Campaign Secretariat”.
“The Secretariat is authorized 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.”