Bukola Afeni
The Federal Government has inaugurated the committee for the development of the National Water Sanitation and hygiene policy for Nigeria.
The Minister of Environment, Mohammed Hassan Abdullahi urged the members of the committee to follow through to develop a robust National WASH Policy for the country.
“We want a policy that meets international standards and reflects our context, culture, and realities such that it can be effectively implemented to adequately address the WASH needs of the great people of this great country”, he said.
Abdullahi explained that the latest data from the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene National Outcome Routine Mapping (WASHMORM) 2021, indicates that only 10% of the population has access to basic water, sanitation, and hygiene services.
” 39% lack access to basic drinking water services, 55% lack decent toilets and 23% practice open defecation. This is worrisome and unacceptable and a narrative that we must work together to change.
“We must rigorously interrogate our progress, challenge our thinking, and scale up our actions. This includes strengthening inter-ministerial, inter-agency and inter-governmental collaboration to accelerate change so that other nations do not leave us behind”, he added.
The Country Director, of WaterAid Nigeria, Evelyn Mere noted that it is important to accelerate change in the WASH sector.
” The data that is available in the WASH sector is not encouraging. Despite the combined efforts, the progress we are witnessing is slow, and the need for change has become inevitable.
For us to change the current statistics we must do things differently, and step up the narrative around WASH”, she noted.
According to Mere, WaterAid Nigeria is committed to supporting the committee.
“The inauguration of the committee is the culmination of the leadership of the different Ministers and their teams. We are proud to be associated with this success story. We are looking forward to more support from international development partners”, she said.
A Wash Consultant, Soji Adeyemi, disclosed that there is a need for a policy to address the huge gap in the WASH sector.
“Development partners have invested heavily in WASH, the states and federal government have to put in enough measures to meet the needs of the people.
The country should have a robust WASH policy to bring about national development.
” Despite the huge capital investments in the WASH sector by the government, the infrastructure development requirement for the current population is inadequate. Private sector investment will also bring about sustainable progress”, he noted.
