Wole Balogun, Ado Ekiti

Piqued by the poor rating of  Ekiti State in terms of open defecation, the  state government has restated its commitment to eradicate the bad habit before 2022.

This is by taking the campaign to institutions of learning and public places, as well as spreading the campaign to schools on the need  to implement rules guiding Water Sanitation and Hygiene(WASH) to halt open defecation.

The government also added that it had established a task force across all the state ministries, departments and agencies of government.

Speaking in Ado Ekiti yesterday as part of activities  marking the 2019 edition of WASH, the Commissioner for Public Utilities, Bamidele Faparusi, canvassed collaborative efforts among all stakeholders in order to achieve the year 2022 target.

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Faparusi said  the present administration would step up efforts by paying advocacy visits to local governments and market places, establish WASH committee across MDAs and  develop  an action plan, as part of the strategies to achieving the target.

He described the WASH  programme as  an initiative of the World Health Organisation (WHO) targeted at promoting hygiene in the society, which he said Ekiti had keyed  into.

Faparusi, commended the Universal Basic Education Board   for its  diligence, and proactive efforts at stemming the tide of open defecation across primary schools in the state.

Stressing the importance of hand washing and sanitation in the society,  the commissioner explained that; “the programme is part of the advocacy and awareness exercise  aimed at protecting the state especially pupils from  primary schools across the state.