World Toilet Day: Ministry Builds Smart Public Toilet In Nasarawa

The federal government has renewed its commitment to expanding safe sanitation infrastructure nationwide as the Ministry of Environment inaugurated a smart public toilet at Orange Market in Mararaba, Nasarawa State, to mark the 2025 World Toilet Day.

At the event, the ministry’s permanent secretary, Mahmud Adam Kambari, who represented the minister of Environment, Balarabe Lawal, said this year’s theme, “Sanitation in a Changing World,” reflected the growing environmental and public health challenges driven by rapid urbanisation and population growth.

“Access to a safe and clean toilet is not a privilege but a fundamental human right that protects health and safeguards our environment,” Kambari told the audience.

He said that poor sanitation remains a major driver of cholera, dysentery, typhoid, hepatitis A, and polio, and called for more investment in public toilets across markets, parks, schools, and communities.

The minister said that current access to improved sanitation remains below 36 percent nationwide.

He outlined federal interventions in the sub-sector as the Clean and Green Programme, community-based waste management initiatives, capacity building for environmental health officers and public-private partnerships for eco-friendly sanitation systems.

The new smart public toilet, built in partnership with Bhustan Energy and Environmental Services Ltd and RUWES, is self-powered, converting waste into energy in an eco-friendly process designed for high-traffic public facilities.

The Nasarawa State commissioner for Environment and Natural Resources, Margaret Itake Elayo, who represented the state government, conveyed the goodwill of Governor Abdullahi Sule and praised the ministry for its sustained support.

“The Federal Ministry of Environment has done this before—Karu International Market, Mechanic Village Azuba in Lafia—and now Orange Market. The effort to rid the state of open defecation cannot be overemphasised and we are deeply grateful,” she said.

Also, Steven Ohize, the regional coordinator for Cholera Control at the Red Cross, delivered remarks on behalf of the Global Task Force on Cholera Control, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, and the broader Red Cross family.