The Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Environment, Mahmud Kambari, said this on Saturday at an event to commemorate the 2024 National Environmental Sanitation Day in Piwoyi, a suburb community in the Federal Capital Territory.
The National Environmental Sanitation Day is held on June 28 yearly to create adequate awareness of the significance of personal and environmental hygiene among Nigerians.
Kambari, who was represented by the Director of Pollution Control and Environmental Health in the ministry, Olubunmi Olusanya, said the purpose is to create awareness among the Nigerian populace on the importance of sanitation practices as a veritable means of controlling and preventing communicable diseases.
He said, “Currently in the country, we are faced with the challenge of a cholera outbreak as you all know is caused by bacteria infection, which is spread through contaminated water or food as a result of unhygienic practices.
“For us to stop this, we need to imbibe good environmental sanitation practices, for example, open defecation is one of the primary causes of cholera.”
He stated that the government will continue to partner with the community to ensure that the community is adequately clean.
“Open defecation is one of the primary causes of cholera before. So, before we eat, we need to wash our hands so that we don’t transmit cholera disease into our bodies, we also need to cook our food thoroughly. If you practise good sanitation and hygienic practices, you will be free from diseases,” he added.
The representative of the World Health Organisation, Dr Edwin Edeh, encouraged landlords to build toilets in their houses to promote good hygiene.
“We want to encourage landlords here that when you build houses, make sure you have toilets so that people can use them, and I also encourage everyone in the community to wash their hands regularly,” he said.
The representative from Breakthrough Action Nigeria, Jonathan Duku emphasised the need for the community to keep their environment clean.
“Mitigating environmental challenges will not only eradicate cholera but also Lassa fever. We all know that a dirty environment attracts rats that cause Lassa fever and with this team, we are encouraging every community member in Piwoyi to keep their environment clean,” Duku said.
Meanwhile, the Etsu of Piwoyi community, Lazurus Bahago applauded the government and its partners for the awareness campaign.
He also promised to work with his team to ensure the residents of the community imbibe good environmental sanitation practices.
