The Nation Newspaper

Tag: sanitation

  • Diarrhoea still kills children in sub-Saharan Africa- Expert

    Diarrhoea still kills children in sub-Saharan Africa- Expert

    Mrs Doreen Wandera, Chairperson, African Civil Society Network on Water and Sanitation says diarrhoea remains a major killer of children under-five years in sub-Saharan Africa.

    Wandera told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Abuja that the disease was largely due to consumption of unsafe water and poor hygiene culture.

    Quoting a 2016 WaterAid Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Watch, she said deliberate efforts should be made by all governments in Africa to priortise access to water and sanitation.

    The chairperson described as

    sad a situation where by 650 million people around the world lived without access to water, a development she said made people consume unsafe water to survive.

    She said the region had 15 years to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) six.

    According to her, SDGs) envision universal, sustainable, affordable and equitable access to safe drinking water, adequate sanitation and hygiene.

    ‘‘We call on African governments and ministries to proritise WASH as fundamental in the implementation and achievement of the SDGs.

    ‘‘As a civil society group, we understand that for the development of Africa, particularly regarding the health and dignity of our people, requires demanding action from our governments.

    ‘‘Only by prioritising and achieving the global goal 6 on water and sanitation that we will see the change we want and we recognise that we have a long way to go.”

    Wandera also called for increased domestic resource mobilisation to achieve sustainable service delivery to leave no one behind.

    The chairperson also called on all countries to progressively reduce inequalities arising from accessing water.

    .The African Civil Society Network on Water and Sanitation is a coalition of CSOs working to scale up access to water and sanitation in the region.

    It works through advocacy and coordination to influence governments’ decisions to keep to the promises of meeting the Africa Water Vision 2025 and the AU’s Agenda 2063 of managing water resources effectively.

  • 27,500 sanitation officers coming

    27,500 sanitation officers coming

    As part of its solid waste management reforms, tagged Cleaner Lagos Initiative, the Lagos State Government is to engage 27,500 community sanitation officers.

    Commissioner for the Environment, Dr. Babatunde Adejare, who spoke with reporters at Alausa, Ikeja, said the officers would be posted to their communities, adding that they would be equipped to sweep the inner streets and take care of  their communities.

    He said: “This initiative will further guarantee the vision of the Lagos Sate Government’s commitment to the realisation of a sustainable and habitable environment.”

    Adejare said the year promised to be very eventful as it marked the beginning of the Cleaner Lagos Initiative, designed to take solid waste management to a higher level. He said  the government planned to create an environmental sanitation corps to enhance the enforcement of laws.

    “As we await the new horizon in solid waste management which is characterised by the infusion of technology, resources and technical know-how as well as creation of jobs for multitude of the unemployed, we remain undaunted in ensuring massive evacuation of wastes, cleaning and clearing of drainages/canals, beautification of the environment and enforcement of pollution control measures,” Adejare said.

    Stressing that an average of 80 people enter Lagos hourly, he blamed the influx for the volume of refuse being generated. He said  the government was poised to intensify advocacy and enlightenment among the people, especially to sensitise waste generators on the value of solid waste and the need for sorting.

    “We need to let our people know that refuse now has commercial value; refuse can be bailed and exported like every other commodity and can also be used to generate power,” he said.

    Adejare gave a breakdown of wastes generated by his ministry in January. “Within January, a total of 33, 338 metric tonnes of waste was evacuated from highways and other public places in Lagos, while a total of 135,406.00 metric tonnes of refuse were deposited in various dumpsites across the state.

    “To control environmental nuisances/ infractions noticed across the state, a total of 122 nuisance abatement notices in 194 locations across the 20 local governments areas, while continued advocacy and enlightenment was sustained to reorientate people towards positive environmental behaviour,” he explained.

    He restated the government’s commitment to ensuring the smooth delivery of potable water supply to Lagos metropolis and its environs.

    “The government has commenced the process of the award of contract for the construction of Adiyan Water Treatment Plant Phase II with 70 million gallons/ day (MGD) capacity which is to benefit a population of about three million people. Similarly, the state government has given approval for development of 100 mgd Odomola II Water Treatment and Distribution Network Project to commence on Public Private Partnership mode,” he said.

    The ministry, he said, also progressed with its landscaping and beautification projects propagating 5,458 local and Indian plants at Lagos State Parks Agency (LASPARK) nurseries in Oko-Oba, Agege and Erikorodo-Ikorodu.

  • Nigeria, third in world with poor sanitation access – Report

    Nigeria is the third country in the world and the worst in Sub-Saharan Africa where most urban dwellers live without a safe private toilet, the latest report on State of the World Toilets for 2016 has said.

    According to the report by WaterAid, a renowned international organization that focuses on improving access to safe water and sanitation in towns and villages, 58 million people in Nigeria out of the 700 million urban dwellers around the world live without basic sanitation.

    It said: “The problem is so big that 13.5 million people living in Nigeria’s towns and cities have no choice but to defecate in the open using roadsides, railway tracks and even plastic bags dubbed ‘flying toilets’. Nigeria also ranks top in the countries falling furthest behind in reaching people with urban sanitation.

    “For every urban dweller reached with sanitation since 2000, two were added to the number living without, an increase of 31 million people in the last 15 years.”

    The Country Representative of the agency, Dr. Michael Ojo, noted that adequate sanitation could create jobs and prosperity directly and indirectly, adding that there exists a potential market of more than $2.6bn in sanitation.

    Ojo stated that by increasing access to sanitation through stimulating needs via sanitation marketing and responding to existing unmet needs, untapped business opportunities would open up.

    “WaterAid’s State of the World Toilet 2016 report also focuses on some of the jobs that are created when the challenge is addressed head-on,” Ojo said.

    The report further noted that an investment in improving access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene was probably the most effective investment Nigeria could make to grow its economy and better the lives of its people.

    On other findings, the report stated that India ranked top for having the greatest number of urban dwellers living without safe private toilet and put the number of persons in this category at 157 million.

    “It is also a world leader in having the most urban dwellers practicing open defecation – 41 million,” the report noted.

    It said war-ravaged South Sudan, the world’s newest nation, is the worst country in the world for urban sanitation by percentage, adding that 84 per cent of dwellers in its urban centres had no access to a toilet and every other urban-resident practiced open defecation.

  • Lions Club partners Ogun on sanitation

    Ota Diamond Lions Club in Ogun State, yesterday partnered the Ogun State Environmental Protection Agency (OSEPA) to carry out a community environmental sanitation exercise at Sango Ota, a suburb in the state.

    The three-hour began from cleaning drainages under Sango Bridge to Motor Parks within the community.

    According to the club’s environmental project Chairman, Olu Adegbite, the exercise was to complement the efforts of Ogun State Governor Ibikunle Amosun to eradicate environmental pollution and its menace within the state and to deliver a service to humanity which defines the Lions Club internationally.

    He said environmental keeping activity is one of the adopted projects of Ota Diamond Lions Club. This, he added, is to give maximum support to the state government to clamp down on all environmental challenges in the state.

    Lion Adegbite appealed to market men and women, drivers and their unions including all residents to support the government to regularly clear and clean up their premises, especially drainage channels and canals across the state, so as to avert any unforeseen outbreak of diseases and flooding.

  • Lagos cancels monthly sanitation

    Lagos cancels monthly sanitation

    THE Lagos State government yesterday cancelled the monthly sanitation, which holds last Saturday of every month.

    Commissioner for Information and Strategy Steve Ayorinde, speaking in a statement, said the decision  was taken at yesterday’s State Executive Council meeting.

    Ayorinde said the council agreed there should be a review of sanitation laws and procedures to meet present challenges for a clean and healthy environment.

    THe noted that with the economic situation, it was not convenient to restrict movement for three hours at a time people should be engaged in commercial and entrepreneurial activities.

    The commissioner said in the last two decades, Lagos had grown into a mega city with huge environmental problems associated with managing a population of over 20 million people.

    “But sadly, the environmental laws, policies and procedures being practised in the state have not been able to match the phenomenal growth and the dream of a 24-hour economy, hence the need for the reform,” Ayorinde said.

    He said the thrust of the initiative, among others, was to promote holistic and modern solutions to the state’s unique challenges, while encouraging citizens to partner government to achieve desired goals.

    His words: “After a careful consideration, the State Executive Council has resolved that the present economic climate can no longer support the continued lock down of a mega city, such as Lagos, when the citizens should be free to engage in commercial and entrepreneurial activities that can promote economic growth and prosperity.

    “Furthermore, government will also accelerate the introduction of fresh reforms through the passage of new harmonised environmental laws to drive meaningful changes in areas of harmonised billing, waste management, modern landfill sites, noise pollution, introduction of an environmental trust fund and an environmental advisory council.

    “The government wishes to reiterate its commitment to a clean and secure environment, and will continue to provide the leadership to meet the environmental challenges of a mega city, such as Lagos.”

     

  • World Toilet Day: Lagos promotes sanitation

    The Lagos State government has marked the World Toilet Day.

    The yearly event promotes safe toilet habits to prevent diseases and epidemics.

    At the event, held in Apapa, the Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, who was represented by his Special Adviser on the Environment, Mr. Babatunde Hunpe, said: “We remain resolute in taking sanitation issue to the front burner as we are determined to ensure that the twin evil of open urination and defecation can no longer rear their ugly heads.”

    He noted that the day was an opportunity to raise awareness about the value of best sanitation practices and propagate the right to water and sanitation among Lagosians.

    The governor pointed out that Lagos, as the fifth largest economy in Africa, was being exposed to movement of people from other parts of the West Africa sub-region, adding that this situation had compounded the challenges of water and sanitation of the state, even with 570 public toilets spread across the state.

    “One in every three people on this planet still does not have access to a clean and safe toilet; at least 1.8 billion people globally use a source of drinking water that is contaminated; 2.5 billion people lack access to basic sanitation services, such as toilets or latrines and 1,000 children die daily due to poor sanitation; whereas better sanitation supports better nutrition and improved health, especially for women and children,” Ambode said.

    The governor decried the practice of open defecation and urination, saying that not only does such act pollute underground waters, but also contaminate agricultural produce, aid the spread of diseases and incapacitates the workforce.

    Consequently, the state, he said, would provide modern public conveniences and upgrading of already facilities across the state, stressing that plans were afoot to step-up on-going massive enlightenment drive by putting waste management on auto drive, whereby Lagosians would be encouraged to sustain a clean, aesthetic and safe megacity that would always set the pace for the enation.

    “We are also accelerating the provision and monitoring of public toilets within the state, in addition to massive awareness campaign to re-orientate the people towards positive sanitation attitude,” Ambode said.

    He stressed that his government established the public sanitation utilities to draw up the roadmap for combating open urination and defecation in public areas within the state which would reduce health care costs.

    Commissioner for the Environment, Dr. Babatunde Adejare, represented by the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Adeyemi Saliu, enjoined Lagosians to join the state crusade to attain a cleaner, healthier, functional and sustainable environment, capable of promoting economic growth and well-being of the citizenry.

  • 500 youths to be recruited for sanitation in Sokoto

    500 youths to be recruited for sanitation in Sokoto

    The Sokoto State Commissioner for Environment, Alhaji Muhammadu Sifawa, has said that the state government will recruit 500  for sanitation exercises.

    Sifawa said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Sokoto on Monday.

    He also said that the state government had purchased sanitation tools and protective wears.

    The commissioner said that the government had bought eight vehicles for refuse evacuation and disposal.

    According to him, this is to ensure early evacuation of refuse and improve the health of the people.

    He said that the government had also procured 30 garbage collection tricycles for waste management in densely populated areas.

    The state government, he said, had taken some proactive measures to boost environmental sanitation.

    The measures were special refuse evacuation in 17 major drains at a cost of N 4.5million and resuscitation of the monthly sanitation exercise.

    The others were introduction of cash prizes of N2.25 million to the winning zones, and certificates to youth clubs and associations in sanitation exercise.

  • Body threatens to withdraw funding from sanitation

    The Global Sanitation Fund (GSF) has threatened to withdraw funding for sanitation and hygiene projects in Nigeria if state governments do not pay their counterpart fund of $5 million to scale up sanitation and hygiene issues.

    The GSF noted that if the governments of  Cross River and Benue state do not pay their counterpart funding for the Rural Sanitation and Hygiene Promotion in Nigeria (RUSHPIN) project being implemented in the two states, it would withdraw funding by the end of this year.

    The Federal Government signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with GSF in 2014. The body is to provide $5million for the project to be implemented in six local government areas in Benue and Cross River states.

    The state governments were expected to pay $2.5 million each to have the same project implemented in three LGAs in each of the state but the states have not being forthcoming with the funds.

    Project Manager (RUSHPiN), Oliver Okon, who disclosed this yesterday during a workshop on the role of media in scaling up access to Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) in Abuja, said the project had been on in the states for three years without the states paying their matching grants.

    The RUSHPiN project is being implemented in both states by Concerned Universal,  a non governmental organisation based in Calabar, Cross River State.

    Okon added that the state governments have refused to pay their funds despite several advocacy visits.

    He added that the country loses $5.5billion annually to poor sanitation, adding that Nigeria is at the bottom of 25 countries in the world with citizens having poor access to sanitation facilities.

    Okon, who disclosed that Nigeria, was ranked 5th in Open Defecation, added that 868,000 Nigerian children die annually as a result of open defecation.

    “Counterpart funding from states remain a big issue in sanitation and hygiene fight. The state governments are not forth coming terms of counterpart funding.

    “The governments of Benue and Cross River states have not been able to meet their counterpart funds for the RUSHPiN programme.

    “The two states are expected to matching the $5 million GSF fund by providing $2.5 million each as counterpart funds,” he said.

  • Environmental sanitation key to malaria prevention

    Environmental sanitation key to malaria prevention

    Key players in the health sector have urged Nigerians to clean their environment, especially by draining stagnant water to put malaria, a disease caused by anopheles mosquitoes, at bay.

    They said malaria thrives in dirty environment, thus cleaning the surroundings is non-negotiable to rid the country of the disease.

    The forum was the 1000-man walk in Lagos to commemorate the World Malaria Day. The theme was: End malaria for good.

    A consultant at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH),Dr Omolola Salako, said environment sanitation is a good strategy, which must be promoted to discourage  mosquitoes from breeding.

    Besides this, people should sleep under the long lasting insecticide nets (LLINs).

    “They should also test for malaria before they commence treatment. This is because there are several diseases, which present themselves as a fever. So, people must be sure its malaria before taking medications,” she said.

    Marketing Director, Greenlife Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Mr Olufemi Ayekun, said malaria kills over 500,000 people yearly across the world.

    According to him, one person dies every minute to the seemingly preventable disease.

    He also advocated a clean environment devoid of stagnant water and dirt.

    “We must clear our environment to stop mosquitoes from breeding. In Lagos, we must do something about canals that are opened. People should stop throwing their wastes, especially nylon and cans into the drainage that water should be flowing through. All these are breeding areas for mosquitoes,” he said.

    Quoting the World Health Organisation (WHO), Ayekun said people should have a malaria test, which is the gold standard,  before starting the treatment.

    “The Federal Government should declare a war against malaria because mosquitoes bite people in the car, at offices and in homes. The disease is everywhere in the country,” he said.

    Nollywood diva Foluke Daramola said many people see malaria as a common illness, adding that the danger it poses is unimaginable.

    “We are walking to make people aware of the danger associated with the disease. When the common man sees what we are doing to prevent malaria, they might be spurred to take the issue more seriously,” she said.

    Another Nollywood star Chioma Apotha said everybody should be involved in the fight against malaria.

    She said malaria affects everybody, and as such, it should be tackled headlong.

    An advocate for better healthcare, Eniola Salu, said many lives are lost to malaria daily.

    She said malaria has continued to thrive because of poor environment sanitation, adding that people need to change their attitude so that it can be totally eradicated.

  • Ministry reviews water, sanitation policy

    The Lagos Ministry of Environment in partnership with the Save the Children, an international non gevernmental organisation (NGO) for children, with support from  Reckitt Benckiser, has reviewed the draft of the Lagos State Water and Sanitation Policy (WASH), in preparation for its presentation to the state executive council.

    The Commissioner for the Environment, Dr. Babatunde Adejare    promised to ensure a speedy implantation of the policy  once passed by the state executive council, assuring that the implementation of the policy will lead to a decline in childhood mortality.

    “Through the WASH Policy, we are teaching mothers to be more hygienic and use safe water to provide food for their babies. The number one killer of children is diarrhea so if we take care of the safe water part of it, that would lead to decline in the death of children,” Adejare said.

    An advocacy group member, Adviser for Save the Children, Mr.  Babatunde Folorunsho, said the organisation is hopeful of a fruitful outcome, especially as the implementation of the policy could help save more lives in the state.

    Part of the recommendations made from the retreat was the need to have a WASH department in all the local government areas within the state and the need to also employ more environmental health officers as well as develop a robust mechanism for enforcement and compliance of sanitation laws within the state.

    The retreat, which held in Lagos, was attended by heads of agencies and departments in the Ministry of the Environment; officials of the Lagos State Water Corporation (LWC); the Lagos State Waste Water Management Office (LSWMO); Lagos State Water Regulatory Commission (LSWRC) and the Lagos State Environmental Protection agency (LASEPA).