Adekunle Jimoh, Ilorin
The Federal Government on Thursday restated its commitment to Open Defecation-Free (ODF) by 2025 in the country.
It said the launch of the ODF campaign next Tuesday will scale the programme up and bring it to the attention of all and sundry.
Minister of Water Resources Suleiman Adamu said this in Malete, Moro Local Government Area of Kwara State, at the inauguration of rehabilitated Malete Water Works.
The project was sponsored by the Lower Niger River Basin Development Authority, Ilorin and built by Turning Point Engineering Limited.
Adamu said: “We are very much prepared for the launch of the open defecation-free (ODF) campaign on November 19, 2019. Like I keep saying that the launching is not the end, it is just the beginning. We have been working on the programme for a very long time. We need to scale it up. That is what the launching is all about.
“It is to bring the ODF to the attention of the country and it will continue, after the launch, to all the nooks and crannies of the country to make sure that Nigeria is open defecation free by 2025. That is our target and our mission and by the grace of God we shall meet it.”
Also, a non-governmental organisation (NGO), Build A School In Africa (BASIA), has said it is determined to curb open defecation.
Its President, Dr. Victor Ukorebi, spoke at the inauguration of a block of four classrooms, two renovated blocks of six classrooms, a borehole and eight rooms of modern toilet at St. Peter’s College, Olomore, Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.
He said: “Our children belong to the classrooms and not to the streets. They deserve education and not hawking and idling away. Each child is a potential future leader of this state and this country. Getting the right education will only get them closer to that dream and aspiration, and to place them in their rightful positions in the society.”
The project is the initiative of BASIA in conjunction with Latter-Day Saints Charities and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
The inauguration, which began with the group’s visit to Ogun State Deputy Governor Mrs. Noimot Salako-Oyedele, was led by Dr. Ukorebi and his wife, Katia.
The deputy governor lauded the initiative, saying the gesture was meant to give back to the society.
Leave a Reply