Vice President Kashim Shettima, on Thursday, said the Federal Government had commenced measures to combat the cholera epidemic by tackling the root causes, including open defecation.
Consequently, he affirmed that the Bola Tinubu administration was poised to end open defecation by 2025.
The Vice President spoke on Thursday when he inaugurated the Steering Committee for the “Clean Nigeria: Use the Toilet” Campaign at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
He said the Federal Government could end open defecation by mobilising strategic stakeholders, leveraging technology, and deploying innovative and sustainable solutions to boost the nation’s sanitation landscape.
The Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Communications, Mr Stanley Nkwocha, revealed details of the ceremony in a statement titled, ‘Clean Nigeria Initiative: FG tackles cholera from the root, intensifies bid to end open defecation.’
His comments followed the recent outbreak of Cholera, which has severely affected several states, including Lagos.
From January to June 2024, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention reported at least 3,000 suspected cases, with 65 confirmed and 30 deaths across 96 local government areas in 33 states.
Bayelsa, Zamfara, Abia, Cross River, Bauchi, Delta, Katsina, Imo, Nasarawa, and Lagos are the most affected states.
The outbreak is attributed to the consumption of contaminated water and inadequate sanitation, exacerbated by the rainy season, intensifying cholera’s spread.
Shettima, who underscored the significance of hygiene, health and its impact on development and wealth, urged the committee to “align with broader government priorities and interventions in areas such as poverty reduction, education, and economic growth.”
He said the recently reported cases of cholera in Nigeria should be sufficient motivation for the committee to work harder, just as he directed members of the committee to “craft solutions to handle wastewater management, contaminated water sources, and open defecation” across the country.
VP Shettima also expressed confidence that members of the team “will commit to research-driven approaches in our bids to deliver on our promise to make the nation clean.”
“We are well aware that achieving this objective begins with our collective resolve to embrace behavioural change and cultivate a lifestyle that prioritizes proper sanitation practices, hygiene education, and community engagement,” he added.
He stressed that the goals and aspirations of the country could be best achieved by harnessing the resources available in the public and private sectors, especially by carrying out innovative research.
“The public sector cannot succeed in this campaign unless we engage and encourage private sector participation and invite innovative and sustainable solutions,” he said.
The meeting, which is the fifth since the flag-off of the Clean Nigeria Campaign in 2019, provides a forum to review the progress achieved so far in the country.
Earlier, the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Pate, recalled that in the bid to tackle the cholera epidemic, which he said is ravaging the country in 33 states, with 2,000 cases and 33 deaths, the Federal Executive Council, at its last meeting, also commissioned a cabinet committee to deal with the issue.
He said, “That cabinet committee comprises Water, Education, Environment, Aviation, and almost all the relevant ministries. Open defecation is part of the drivers of this Cholera outbreak that we are seeing.
“But we also have a good example of a sub-national unit doing very well in Jigawa State, which has been declared open defecation-free.
“That is a good example showing that sub-national units can help us address this issue. So, we really appreciate your leadership and commit ourselves to supporting this effort so that we can end open defecation in Nigeria.”
Presenting the report on ‘Clean Nigeria: Use the Toilet Campaign’, the Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, Prof. Joseph Terlumun Utsev, said the report covered both challenges and successes since its establishment in 2016 and was inaugurated and signed into law in 2019.
In the report, the minister warned that open defecation has its own economic, social, and health impact on the national outlook of the country, noting that in 2016, a road map was made by the previous administration and an investment of about N959bn would be required.
“The idea was that money would be used in the construction of toilets in both the households and national levels.
“25,000 toilets would be constructed at the rural level and 50,000 toilets at the urban level, but as of today, things have changed and a review was needed.
“With that, there was an approval of N10.4bn to be given annually for the implementation of the exercise and we, 48 million people, have changed their behaviour and 9.4 million toilets were to be built across the 33 states and the FCT with this estimation,” the Minister explained.
Sokoto screens Hajj returnees
As part of measures to curtail the possible spread of cholera and any other diseases, the Sokoto State government said, on Thursday, that all returning Hajj pilgrims from Saudi Arabia will undergo test at the airport.
The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health, Alhaji Abubakar Gagi, said said the measure was to ensure that the pilgrims are in good Health.
He said while in their Holy land, the pilgrims mingled with thousands of pilgrims from various countries in the world who might have contracted COVID-19 and other communicable diseases, hence, the need to check their health condition upon their return home.
“It is a known fact that the pilgrims during their sojourn in Saudi Arabia had definitely had contact with various people from different countries who might have had one communicable disease or the other.
“So, there is a need for us to check their health condition upon their return home before they mingle with their people here at home,” he said.
The Permanent Secretary said already a medical team had already been sent to the airport to conduct the exercise.
He therefore called for understanding from the pilgrims and their relatives over a little delay they will experience at the Airport.
He thanked the state government for providing all the required medicaments and logistics for the successful conduct of the exercise.
Benue records four deaths
The Benue State government said four deaths from suspected cholera cases were recorded in the state.
The state epidemiologist, Dr Henry Ijabo, who disclosed this to journalists on Thursday, added that 16 suspected cases were recorded.
He added that the suspected cases were noticed in three local government areas of the state, Agatu, Otukpo and Ado.
“The death in suspected cases is four. Mind you, it’s suspected cases. We don’t have confirmed cases in Benue yet.
“All we have are suspected cases. Out of the 16 suspected cases, four died. They exhibited symptoms that are keeping with cholera but not confirmed,” he said.
He said that the four cases died while an investigation was still ongoing.
