Gbenga Oloniniran
The Lagos State Government on Tuesday reiterated its commitment to continually build a resilient city by eliminating open defecation and prioritising good sanitation practices across the state.
The Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, made this known at the Year 2024 World Toilet Day celebrations held at Adeyemi Bero Auditorium, Alausa, Ikeja, saying the government would continue to proffer solutions to all sanitation challenges across the state.
He said every World Toilet Day celebrates the importance of toilets, raising awareness of the 4.2 billion people living without access to safely managed sanitation.
He added that the day was also about taking action to tackle the global sanitation crisis and achieve Sustainable Development Goal 6: Water and Sanitation for all by 2030.
He stated that the national theme, “Use the Toilet and Have Peace,” was very apt as it focused on the fact that for billions of people, sanitation was under threat arising from conflict, climate change, disaster and neglect.
He said, “When sanitation services are destroyed, damaged or disrupted, untreated human waste spreads in the environment, unleashing deadly diseases such as cholera and diarrhea which affect community health and the well-being of citizens.”
Wahab explained that in addressing the menace of open defecation in the state, the government had developed four cardinal roadmaps which are advocacy/sensitisation; bridging the infrastructure gap; standardisation and regularisation of existing facilities as well as ensuring adequate monitoring and enforcement.
He stated further that the ministry had taken the campaign to the grassroots by launching the “Clean Nigeria, Use the Toilet Campaign” in 13 local government areas out of the 20 LGAs in Lagos.
He added that the ministry also organised developmental training for 250 public toilet operators and janitors in the state and rolled out comprehensive operational guidelines to guide the operation of public toilets in the state to achieve effective service delivery.
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