FCTA TASKS RESIDENTS ON OPEN DEFECATION
By: Oji Moses.
The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), has called on residents to join hands in working towards bringing the practice of open defecation to an end.
This call was made by the Acting Director, Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB), Mrs Kate Ogbonna, while addressing a group of solid waste management contractors at the Agency’s headquarters in the FCT.
The Acting Director said that a little over two billion people worldwide have no access to modern toilets with Nigeria contributing close to forty-seven million to this unsavoury statistics.
In her words, “About 47 million Nigerians still practice open defecation, urination, poor sanitation and unhygienic practices. In the Federal Capital Territory, a lot of of the residents still defecate openly due to challenges of non-availability of toilets in different homes as well as public places within the FCT.”
Mrs. Ogbonna used the occasion to call on residents to help in curbing this menace by building houses with this important facility included in the plan.
‘As you are aware, government cannot provide enough toilets for all residents. The communities and individuals should help in providing modern toilets in their existing houses and also include it in their new building plans thereby helping curb the menace and backward practice of open defecation.’
According to her, the practice of open defecation is a menace that has continually posed health threats leading to outbreaks of diseases like cholera, diarrhea, diphtheria, water and air pollution in several places across nations, especially Africa, Asia and Latin America.
‘The chances of being bitten by snakes; stung by scorpions injured by broken bottles or other sharp, dangerous objects are so high while excreting in the bush’, she said.
Ogbonna went further to say that by global set goals, Nigeria needs to work five times as hard as possible to ensure “we meet up with other nations in having a world free of open defecation and its attendant health challenges. ‘We must ensure we are not left behind; we must change our attitude and culture of going into nearby bush to evacuate”.
‘We are here to draw the attention of the people who are being left behind without sanitation to the social, economic and environmental consequences of inaction. The culture of using bushes around residential areas has to stop’, she added.
As to what the Board is doing to ensure all parts of the Territory is carried along, Mrs Ogbonna said the message shall be taken to FCT communities and public places like schools, markets as the FCT Administration is committed to addressing open defecation and sanitation challenges in the FCT in line with Mr. President’s declaration of state of emergency on water, sanitation and hygiene across the nation.
She used the occasion to task residents, especially those living in the FCT suburbs and villages not connected to any sewer line, to encourage their neighbours to incorporate toilet facilities in their building plans.
