The federal government has commenced measures to combat the rapid spread of Cholera across the country, causing high morbidity and mortality.
The government says the best response to this epidemic is by tackling the root causes, including open defecation.
Vice President Kashim Shettima emphasised the commitment of the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to end open defecation by 2025.
The Vice President said this on Thursday when he inaugurated the Steering Committee for the “Clean Nigeria: Use the Toilet” Campaign, at the Presidential Villa, in Abuja.
He said that ending open defecation can be achieved by mobilising strategic stakeholders and leveraging technology as well as deploying innovative and sustainable solutions to boost the nation’s sanitation landscape.
The VP said the recently reported cases of cholera in the country should serve as 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.
The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Ali 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 (FEC), at its last meeting, also commissioned a cabinet committee to deal with the issue.
According to him, the campaign is a transformative initiative to eradicate open defecation in Nigeria in the year 2025, noting that the campaign was aimed at getting all stakeholders to join and tackle open defecation which currently ranked Nigeria as the second largest country that practices open defecation in the world, next to India.
