According to World Toilet Organization accessible toilets play fundamental  role in improving hygiene and health around the world.

This is why  it is important to sustain awareness in promoting  worldwide public campaign that encourages action to tackle the global sanitation crisis. It is important to recall that Safe toilets for all by 2030’ is one of the targets of Sustainable Development Goal Six.

According to available statistics three point five billion people  across the world still live without safely managed sanitation and  four hundred and nineteen million people  still  practise open defecation and remain under threat of untreated human waste which spreads in the environment, with the serious consequences of unleashing deadly diseases.  Open defecation poses a serious risk to public health as it can contaminate sources of drinking water. This contamination can lead to the spread of diseases such as cholera, diarrhea, and dysentery.

According to the United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF Nigeria will need to build no fewer than three point nine million  toilets annually to meet the ending open defecation practice by 2025 target.

 It noted that  Nigeria is making limited progress in the area of provision of  toilet facilities for the people with twenty-three percent of Nigerians defecating in the open, stressing that  government at different levels should drive the vision to achieve Open Defecation Free Status across the country.

Toilets play a crucial role in  household  sanitation  and keep people  healthy as  they effectively and hygienically remove waste away from the home, reducing the exposure of people  to human waste and burden  of   diseases which  can cause sickness and ill health.

Again, keeping  toilets clean and   hygienic is also very  important in eliminating germs and dirt that linger in and around  toilets.

There is need for  governments to ensure that sanitation and water services are resilient, effective, accessible to everyone and protected  from abuse .

 There is equally need for a strong synergy between the government and the private sector  to combat open defecation while more investment and better governance of sanitation are critical to achieve the desired goals. Anambra State Government should be commended for its resolve to stamp out  indiscriminate dumping of refuse, open defecation and urinating in unauthorised places by  enforcing the provisions of the law.

It is equally important for families and communities who organize social events and activities  to provide temporary or mobile toilets for their guests to prevent   open defecation.

Nigerians and  Ndi Anambra in particular should  make sanitation and hand washing their habit to promote healthy lifestyle, in line with the initiative of the wife of the Governor, Mrs Nonye Soludo.

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