Federal Govt Targets Ending Open Defecation By 2030

The Federal Government has declared its commitment to tackling sanitation challenges and achieving an open defecation-free Nigeria by the year 2030.

The Minister of Environment, Malam Balarabe Lawal Abbass, who initiated this effort yesterday at a ministerial press briefing in commemoration of the 2025 World Toilet Day in Abuja, also revealed that the commitment was demonstrated through a Presidential Declaration on the State of Emergency on Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene.

Abbass re-echoed the federal government’s signing of  Executive Order 009, titled The Open Defecation-Free Nigeria by the Year 2025, which he explained is still under review and will be targeted for 2030, as another significant step towards achieving a clean, hygienic public space in the country.

The Minister, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Mahmud Adam Kambari, lamented that open defecation, as a result of poor toilet facilities, is contributing significantly to diseases such as malaria, diarrhoea, typhoid and intestinal worm infections, which he said continue to claim lives, especially among children under the age of five.

While worrying that Poor sanitation also drives antimicrobial resistance and undermines Nigeria’s progress towards SDG 6.2, ensuring access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all by the year 2030, the minister lauded that his ministry, in collaboration with the Chief State Officers, has reviewed and validated the 2005 National Environmental Sanitation Policy and its guidelines.

Abbass, who reiterated that sanitation is not a privilege, but a human right, added that ending open defecation and achieving safe sanitation for all requires collective action and shared responsibility.

“The Ministry has implemented several initiatives, including: The Clean and Green Program, promoting access to safe and adequate toilets in public places; Construction and rehabilitation of toilets in strategic locations across the country; Community-based interventions aimed at eliminating open defecation; Capacity building for environmental health officers and sanitation officers across the country; National Wash Policy is being developed by the National Stakeholders to address sanitation policy;