The Kwara State Government has opened windows for dialogue, collaboration and support with all partners in accelerating progress toward putting an end to open defecation in the state within the shortest possible time.

Commissioner for Water Resources, Mrs. Risikatullahi Abdulmaliq-Bashir, disclosed this while receiving in audience the Clean Nigeria Campaign team from the Federal Ministry of Water Resources, who paid her an advocacy visit in her office.

The commissioner said the launching of the Clean Nigeria Campaign was not a rush, stressing that it requires all hands to be on deck to strengthen all the enablements and further empower the campaign on open defecation.

In a statement signed by the Ministry’s Assistant Press Secretary, Adewoye Oluwatosin, the commissioner said, “Kwara is moving and we are running a race, as the number one marathon in Nigeria and we will not disappoint you definitely.”

Speaking during the visit, the National Coordinator, Clean Nigeria Campaign and leader of the team, Mrs. Opara Chizoma, represented by the Deputy National Coordinator, Mr. Musa Lawal, applauded Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq for his efforts and support to drive the campaign to end open defecation in the State.

“You will recall that the Clean Nigeria Campaign was launched in 2019 by Vice President Professor Yemi Osinbajo (GCON). This was in response to Nigeria’s unfortunate position as the second country with the highest number of people practicing open defecation globally, estimated at 48 million person according to 2021, WASH NORM Report, while access to sanitation in Kwara State was 31% and 50% of her population still practice open defecation”, the Coordinator noted.

The campaign, according to her, is aimed at mobilizing high-level political support, resources, and the entire populace toward building a new culture of good sanitation practices in Nigeria.

Chizoma solicited the state government’s support to hasten the policy implementation in our communities which had already commenced in Moro Local Government Area.

The primary aim of eliminating open defecation, she said, is to reduce WASH-associated diseases and burdens in order to ensure dignified lives for the people of Moro and the generality of Kwarans.

She urged citizens of the state to contribute their quotas and support to ensure that Kwara State becomes open-defecation-free by the year 2025.

Earlier, General Manager, Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency, Olorunfemi Oladipo, said the construction of five simple smart toilets in markets, motorparks and other public places is ongoing and being implemented across the five districts of Moro Local Government Area.

Also, the Permenant Secretary of the Ministry, Alhaji Yahaya Mohammed, encouraged everyone to take the campaign to the rural areas to eradicate open defecation in the state.

The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Dr. Abubakar Ayinla, assured that all public toilets in government hospitals would be in good shape.