100m Nigerians lack access to improved sanitation, says WaterAid

AN international organisation, WaterAid, has said over 100 million Nigerians still lack access to improved sanitation.

It said basic access to sanitation and hygiene had dropped from 37 per cent in 1990 to 28 per cent in 2012, despite government’s claim that access to sanitation was at 41 per cent.

The country representative of the agency in Nigeria, Dr. Michael Ojo, said this in a statement in Abuja.

The statement quoted Dr. Ojo as saying that 60 million Nigerians lacked access to improved water sources.

He explained that 68,000 children, under the age of five, die from diseases caused by poor access to water, sanitation and hygiene.

“Only 28 per cent of the population has access to basic sanitation (over 100 million people have no access to improved sanitation).

“Nigeria is one of a handful of countries around the world where access to basic sanitation is actually falling rather than rising; down from 37 per cent in 1990 to 32 per cent in 2000 and just 28 per cent in 2012. Twenty-three per cent practise open defecation (nearly 40 million people) and 36 per cent lack access to improved water sources (over 60 million).

“Around 68,000 children under the age of five in Nigeria die from diseases caused by the nation’s poor levels of access to water, sanitation and hygiene.”

Dr. Ojo urged Nigerians to continue to demand that the nation’s leaders embrace new and ambitious policies that will eradicate poverty, inequality and change the future of Nigerians for the better.