THE United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Nigeria Country Director, Cristian Munduate, has raised concerns over the growing sanitation crisis in Kaduna State, noting that 60 per cent of the population still engages in open defecation.
The country director noted that this percentage equates to 619,000 people in the state, despite nine out of the 23 LGAs being declared open defecation-free (ODF).
Munduate, raised the alarm during the Kaduna State Open Defecation-Free event, where nine LGAs were declared ODF certified on Friday, September 6.
The ICIR reports that Nigeria has the second-highest global rate of open defecation with Kaduna contributing a portion to the menace.
The WHO defines open defecation as the practice of defecating in fields, forests, bushes, bodies of water, or other open spaces. This act can pose a risk to human health increasing the chances for the contamination of diseases through air, water and the environment.
Meanwhile, while noting that 40 per cent of communities in the state are now ODF certified, the Country Representative bemoaned the widespread practice, particularly in rural areas where access to toilet facilities is severely limited.
She further stressed that the state must address the underlying challenges to accelerate progress across the remaining 14 LGAs.
“While we applaud the construction of improved toilets in the celebrated LGAs, which now stand at an impressive average of 90 per cent it is concerning that only about 30 per cent of the state’s population resides in these ODF LGAs. Clearly, more needs to be done.
“Sixty per cent of the population in Kaduna, which is 619,000 people, still do open defecation. This means that these people are exposed to the dangers of this practice. This statistics is worrisome and underscores the need for concerted efforts and genuine commitments to eliminate open defecation in Kaduna,” she said.
Munduate urged a swift move towards zero open defecation, noting that improved sanitation benefits health and supports broader goals like sustainable development, education, gender equality, and poverty reduction.
She further emphasised that the practice contributes to the spread of diseases such as cholera, diarrhea, and other waterborne infections, which continue to impact children and vulnerable populations the most.
In July 2, The ICIR reported that some states were battling a cholera outbreak, which had resulted in at least 63 deaths and 2,102 suspected cases across 33 of Nigeria’s 36 states in 2024.
However, by July 14, the Nigerian government said the country has recorded a total of 3,623 suspected cholera cases and 103 deaths across 187 LGAs in 34 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
By addressing this issue, UNICEF country director stated, “We are not only safeguarding the health of our communities but also promoting a more equitable and prosperous society.”
According to her the efforts aligned with the federal government’s clean Nigeria initiative, specifically the ‘use the toilet’ campaign, which aims to end open defecation in Nigeria by 2025.
The ICIR reported that while reports have shown that Nigeria has recorded some improvement around the issues related to Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), there are growing concerns with regard to Nigeria achieving the Social Developmental Goal (SDG) by 2030.
According to a report published in 2022 by the ministry of Water Resources, with data from the WASHNORM 2021 survey sampling over 24,600 households across the country, only 10 per cent of Nigeria’s population had access to integrated basic WASH services, which has serious negative health and security implications on the populace as well as in the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs 6) by the federal government.
This shows that open defecation remains a challenge in the country, revealing that as many as 48 million Nigerians across the country still practise open defecation.
WASHNORM survey showed that 46 per cent of the population was found to have access to basic sanitation services in 2021 compared to 44 per cent in 2019, representing a 2 per cent (6.9 million people) increase in the number of persons accessing basic sanitation services.
Usman Mustapha is a solution journalist with International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: [email protected]. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M