No fewer than 49 million Nigerians still defecate openly, a UNICEF Water Sanitation and Hygiene Specialist, Mr. Bisi Agberemi, has said, the News Agency of Nigeria reports. Agberemi said this at the ongoing two-day National Stakeholders Workshop on “Roadmap for Ending Open Defecation” in Abuja on Wednesday. He said that the Federal Government must speed up efforts to eliminate open defecation in the country, adding that open defecation remained the leading cause of preventable child deaths. He added that only 64 per cent of the world’s population had access to improved sanitation, stressing that it was sad to note that Nigeria was still among the top 10 countries practising open defecation. Agberemi quoted the 2013 National Demographic Health Survey, which shows that only 28.7 Nigerians have access to basic sanitation facilities. This, he said, needed to be scaled-up through continued sustainability of practices, such as hand washing, to achieve an open defecation-free Nigeria. He, however, called for the review of obsolete public health laws and implementation of policies to meet the 2025 target. The specialist also called for increased funding of sanitation issues, saying that awareness should be promoted at all levels of government. “We must all work together to advocate for the harmonisation of sanitation policies and cultivate the attitude of cleanliness at all times,” he said. WaterAid’s Country Representative, Dr. Micheal Ojo, said cycle of illnesses still persisted in communities lacking sanitation facilities. He said that access to safe water and secured toilets were necessary for all, saying that “defecating in the open is like we are infecting ourselves.” “In communities where there is open defecation, there are diseases like diarrhoea, dysentery, cholera and gastroenteritis, killing children under five years,” he explained. Ojo said open defecation was still causing Nigeria to lose millions of naira annually, saying the issue needed to be dealt with in order to secure the nation’s future. He stressed the need to have a national road map, which would also involve state governments to address the issue before 2025. The Minister of Water Resources, Mrs. Sarah Ochekpe, represented by the Director, Research and Planning in the ministry, Mr. Adamu Wakil, reiterated Federal Government’s efforts toward eliminating open defecation. Ochekpe said that government had been implementing the community- led total sanitation project to make Nigeria open defecation-free. She said the approach was targeted at changing the attitude of people in the communities on hygiene and sanitation practices and that the government had been recording positive results. The minister added that “for Nigerians to favourably compete on the global arena, it is necessary to imbibe the culture and practice of safe sanitation and hygiene.” The UN had launched a campaign for access to basic sanitation at the commemoration of the World Water Day. The campaign, aimed at ending open defecation by 2025, calls on governments, civil society organisations, businesses and international organisations to take action to ensure that people have access to sanitised environments.http://www.punchng.com/news/49-million-nigerians-still-defecate-openly/

So wen shit dey catch person , and him no see any public toilet around am, and bush dey near him, make him leave the bush go dey find toilet abi? Nonsense

49 million? And another 40 million now have access to cars under GEJ. Hmm

I need not read everything before I know dt 95% of them are men cos I don't understand their shamelessness beside a busy road u will see them there.
Men let me advice u, wen u r pressed pls look for a bank, firstbank even made it better now dt d toilet is outside just go there like normal human being queue a little infact keep space on d queue and then go there use it well, clean up and go ur way.
Eatery is another good place, infact u go even take AC join body do ur thing and walk out, patapata e buy bottled water and leave.
Do you ever wonder how ladies do it, well I've informed u today.
In fact even petrol station is another good place.
Thank me later

This is pathetic. It is high time we started building public functional toilets around.

joseph1832:
49 million? And another 40 million now have access to cars under GEJ. Hmm

Making 89 million Nigerians apart. Lol

Yeah, they park the cars NOI bought for them and enter the bush to do their business

enters thread see poo that is about to hit nairaland...it will soon turn to tribal,gender war

Blackfire:
enters thread see poo that is about to hit nairaland...it will soon turn to tribal,gender war

lol leme start it...yoruba ppo too commit bush shittn...nd hausa

Observing.

joseph1832:
49 million? And another 40 million now have access to cars under GEJ. Hmm

"Agberemi quoted the 2013 National Demographic Health Survey, which shows that only 28.7 Nigerians have access to basic sanitation facilities."

40 million car owners, 49 million public defecators, estimated 70 million children and old-people.

Conclusion: If you don't own a car in Nigeria, you defecate openly.

It's unhealthy indeed.

This where you need Chino for pictoral evidence

Ibadan comes to mind

CommanderIgrigi:
**Lols** We know the greatest pooing machines of Nigeria, Oshunistan is their HQ. When we advice our Yoruba brothers to eat hygenic food with lesser oil, they think we hate them.Now see. **grins**

This statistics should exclude those who take long road trips.
*im Gordon's voice*
Passenger: driver I'm pressed
Driver: thank you thank you

we're still better than India. Thiers is more than 100 million.

Shit is best shitted in dat situation....

Inside bush, hang ur pant on the tree, bend nd deposit it with cool breez flooding into you

adedayourt:
Shit is best shitted in dat situation....

Inside bush, hang ur pant on the tree, bend nd deposit it with cool breez flooding into you

a certified bush man

Maybe this is part of the transformation agender

OR

They do it to seek fresh air.

So let me see, 40 million Nigerians can now afford cars according to Professor Iweala's powerpoint slides. Another 49 million can't afford toilets.

Interesting statistics.

prepare for the e war!

Cutehector4u:
a certified bush man

Yea dats hw we roll

How did they know?

Who counted them? Cos I know someone who is defecating does that without the notice of anybody.

Or do they go about counting shits in open places?
Because some people can shit a shit meant for 20 people at a time.

It's bad.

You need to come to Abuja and see how people urinate everywhere. Even highbrow areas such as Maitama, Asokoro etc are not spared.

The Wuse bridge near Wuse market is always smelling.

Lagos is better because they have strong environmental law, Abuja is worse.

Some people no dey try.

The Yo-robbers lead in this area!! Infact this is the only aspect in Nigeria,. Where the Yo-robbers run the place with no other tribe in sight!! Open defecation is a tradition in Yo-robberland,. Its a way of life.. As a matter of fact only a few homes in Yo-robberland have decent toilet facilities.. Defecating openly in Yo-robberland is nothinq.. Its their culture •

Descartes:
This where you need Chino for pictoral evidence

Well done!

and what will the National Orientation Agency under jonathan do about it? Nothing as usual!

arewafederation:


Well done!

And so?

Descartes:
And so?

Keep it up.

arewafederation:


Keep it up.

K