The Federal Ministry of Water Resources has called on its other counterparts in the ministries, and other government parastatals to collaborate with the Ministry on achieving SDG goal 6 on water and hygiene in the country by year 2030.
Minister of the ministry, Engr Suleiman Adamu made the call during a sixth inter- ministerial dialogue on sanitation held during the week in Abuja, a biannually conference aimed at fostering coordination and conversation on sanitation implementation programme.
Adamu stated that one of the way to live safe is the accessibility to potable water and hygiene while Nigerians desist from the act of open defecation which is becoming a great threat to the country, that is why “My ministry is committed to engaging with you all to find areas of collaboration as we strive towards ensuring that all Nigerian have access to basic facilities and live in a healthy environment”.
The minister further expressed that, Nigeria is the global leader among country with the highest number of people practicing open defecation with estimated of 47million of people indulging in the act, and Indian the former leader was able to exit the ladder through its Swachh Bharat mission which modelled political commitment, public funding, partnership to achieved success mantra.
According to him, “we must all put our effort together to achieve sustainable goal success and take Nigerians out of unfortunate position in the country for the betterment of all.
“Our different Ministries here today have a role to play in the sanitation business across our different sectors and it is when we complement each other’s efforts that the country can make good progress towards achieving SDG 6, we must therefore strengthen the coordination within and across ministries to avoid duplication of efforts and ensure judicious use of resources”. Adamu stated.
In her remarks the minister of women affairs, Dame Tellen Pauline, commended the ministry of water resources for their good initiative and gestures for creating such awareness, adding that this is not a task for the ministry alone, but also her ministry is also effected by the negative effect of open defecation.
She thereby urged well-meaning Nigerians to intensify on advocacy and awareness creation on the dangers of open defecation in the country.
While the Minister of Environment, Alhaji Muhamud Abubakar, on his part, appealed to every individuals both young people, elderly, especially women, community leaders, traditional institutions, government at all levels, and other stakeholders in the society to engage and educate people on how to keep their environment clean at all times in order to avoid disease outbreak such as corona virus, Ebola and any environmental hazard, not forgetting to wash their hands regularly with hygiene soap.
