National coordinator, Society for Water and Sanitation (NEWSAN), Mr Benson Attah, has tasked the political class to prioritise water and sanitation programmes in their campaigns and agenda.
Attah said this will ensure potable water and sanitation facilities in the country. He also said that collaborative efforts would save many Nigerians from cholera and other diseases related to poor sanitation.
Attah made the demands at the multi-stakeholders’ workshop organised to develop the “WASH Charter of Demand” in Abuja.
He asserted that as at today, Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) remain a low priority on many political agenda, and has left about 57 per cent without basic hand washing facilities, and about 90 per cent are without sanitation respectively.
According to him, the meeting was to review the situations surrounding open defecation and water sanitation in Nigeria and to develop a document -Wash Charter of Demand, for advocacy and engagements with political parties’ aspirants at all levels.
“We see this as best opportunity to catch them fast, because now that the country is going into campaigns and getting ready for votes, it’s now we need them to get committed to prioritizing WASH, in whatever position and capacity the politicians find themselves to get engaged in WASH campaigns.
“Whoever wins must commit himself to prioritising WASH as human rights and way forward at federal, states and local govt levels, especially at both urban and rural areas,” Attah said.
The FCT coordinator of NEWSAN, Mr Williams Ngwakwe, said the WASH Charter of Demand advocates the need for budgetary allocations, institutional strengthening and political will in the sector.
On her part, the director of Water Quality Control and Sanitation, Federal Ministry of Water Resources, Mrs Elizabeth Ugoh, said the federal government is working to ensure that every Nigerian key into the sanitation and hygiene practice while curbing the menace of open defecation as Nigeria remains one of the leading countries practicing open defecation globally.
