Open Defecation [Photo Credit: allAfrica]
No fewer than 825 communities in Katsina State have
so far been certified as Open Defecation Free (ODF) under the Sanitation,
Hygiene and Water in Nigeria II (SHAWN). Aminu Dayyabu, the Executive Director,
Katsina State Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency (RUWASSA), made this
known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in
Katsina. The project was supported by the United Nations Children Fund
(UNICEF).
He said the certified communities cut across the 11
participating local government areas of the state. Mr. Dayyabu listed the local
governments as Bakori, Ingawa, Dutsin-ma, Sandamu, Mai’adua, Musawa, Faskari,
Kaita, Batagarawa, Matazu and Safana. “Experts on sanitation went round the
communities that claimed to have stopped open defecation to ascertain their
claims. “After a thorough investigation and scrutiny, the experts discovered
that households in those communities use improved pit latrine that has cover
drops and hand washing materials. “The experts also didn’t see shits in open
environment like it was before. “This shows that the communities have stopped
Open Defecation,’’ he said.
Mr.
Dayyabu said engaging in open defecation and living in unhygienic environment
was responsible for most of the water and environment-related diseases, hence,
the need for people to desist from such act.
He said stopping defecation in open environment
would further assist to prevent outbreak of diarrhoea and cholera, which
account for high rate of child mortality in the state. The executive director
urged the certified communities to keep up the good efforts to maintain their
status and enable the country to attain the Sustainable Development Goals
(SDG’s) Number six on water and sanitation. He explained that the SHAWN II
project, which started in 2015, had recorded tremendous successes. Mr. Dayyabu
said 1,056 boreholes were drilled in rural communities to provide the rural
dwellers with potable water during the period under review.
He said the certified communities would be
considered first before others when it comes to the provision of water supply. Mr.
Dayyabu said a validation exercise in the certified communities would follow to
see if they could really maintain their ODF status.
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