Charity Nwakaudu, Abuja
Report of a survey conducted by the Federal Government with support from United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) has revealed that no fewer than 171 million Nigerians lack access to safe water.
The survey, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene – National Outcome Routine Mapping (WASH NORM II), also found out that a larger percentage of public schools in Nigeria lacked basic sanitation services.
Minister of Water Resources, Suleman Adamu, who presented the report to stakeholders in Abuja, yesterday, expressed concern about poor culture of hygiene and sanitation among Nigerians, stressing that improved culture of hygiene was key to healthy living.
“The information and data in the WASH-NORM II report are quite revealing, encouraging and instructive as shown in the following key findings.
“In the cause of the survey, we discovered that the percentage of the population with access to basic water supply services has steadily increased from 68 per cent in 2018 to 70 per cent in 2019, indicating that about nine million people gained access to basic water supply services between 2018 and 2019. The report also indicated that 14 per cent of Nigerians have access to safely managed drinking water supply services, meaning that up to 171 million Nigerians are still off track the Sustainable Development Goals 6.1.
“On access to sanitation, indicators confirmed slight improvement as 44 per cent of the population were found to have access to basic sanitation services in 2019 compared to the 42 per cent in 2018. The survey also showed a decrease in access to hygiene services between 2018 and 2019, as 16 per cent of the population were found to use basic hygiene services in 2019 compared with 21 per cent in 2018. It also found out that number of people practicing open defecation marginally changed from 24 per cent in 2018 to 23 per cent in 2019 meaning that about 46 million people are still defecating in the open.”
The minister said about 55 per cent of public health care facilities had access to basic water supply services, while 17 per cent of hospitals did not have any water source at all. Also 27 percent of markets and motor parks had access to basic water supply services, while about a quarter of markets and motor parks or 24 per cent have access to basic sanitation services.
, and slightly more than half (53%) of markets and motor parks did not have toilets for public use.
The Minister, thus appreciated the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), UNICEF, and African Development Bank (AfDB) for the support and collaboration which led to the success of the survey.
UNICEF Deputy Country Representative, Rushnan Murtaza, earlier in her remarks reminded the government that wealth of every nation is dependent on the level of the health of its citizens.
She suggested that children be taught on how to wash their hands effectively, which is one of the major ways of staying out of most health challenges.