TRIBUNE
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) says Nigeria will need to build no fewer than 3.9 million toilets annually to meet the ending open defecation practice by 2025 target.
Dr Jane Bevan, UNICEF Chief of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), said this on Monday at the opening of a two-day Maiden Toilet Business Owners Conference in Abuja.
Bevan said that current toilet construction in the country stood between 180,000 – 200,000 toilets annually, describing it as inadequate.
She said the conference was timely as toilet business owners were key to ending open defecation challenges in Nigeria.
According to her, there is the need to do things differently by creating demand for toilets. The private sector could play huge roles for sustainability and strengthening sanitation markets in the country.
Bevan, quoting the 2021 WASH National Outcome Routine Mapping on Nigeria’s sanitation status, said 48 million people practice open defecation, while 95 million were without access to basic sanitation services.
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