The NNPC Foundation Limited has reiterated its commitment to promote global awareness and advocacy for better policies to mitigate sanitation crisis.
Mrs Emmanuella Arukwe, Managing Director NNPC Foundation Ltd., made this known on Tuesday while commemorating the 2024 World Toilet Day (WTD) at the Junior Secondary School, Peyi, Bwari Area Council, Abuja.
Arukwe underscored the need to invest in sanitation infrastructure to ensure cleaner water, healthier communities and sustainable ecosystem.
“NNPC Foundation is deeply committed to contributing to this global effort,” she said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that World Toilet Day is celebrated annually on Nov. 19, to raise awareness on the lack of access to safe toilets and sanitation for billions of people worldwide.
The campaign inspires action to tackle the global sanitation crisis and achieve Sustainable Development Goal (SDG)-6, “Water and Sanitation for all by 2030”.
This year’s campaign with the theme “Toilet, a Place for Peace”, emphasises the role of safe toilets as a space for protection and progress.
Worldwide, 4.2 billion people live without safely managed sanitation and around 673 million people practice open defecation.
Arukwe, represented by Dr David Bala, Executive Director, Programme Development, NNPC Foundation Ltd., said by aligning its actions with SDG-6, it would ensure that it created a world where no one would be left behind.
“Our initiative focuses on raising awareness, advocating for better sanitation policies and supporting installation of clean and safe toilets in underprivileged areas.
“Today, 3.5 billion people lack access to safely managed sanitation, a statistics that highlights the scale of the global sanitation crisis (UN-Water, 2024).
“According to UNICEF, approximately 48 million Nigerians practice open defecation and only 10 per cent of the population have access to combined basic water, sanitation and hygiene services.
“This lack of access contributes significantly to the spread of diseases such as diarrhoea which claims the lives of over 70,000 Nigerian children under the age of five annually,” she said.
Arukwe added that sanitation was a pressing concern in the country, and that the absence of proper sanitation facilities continued to disproportionately affect women and girls.
This, she said put them at risk of harassment and violence in public spaces.
She explained that inadequate sanitation could lead to learning disruptions at school for many girls, as they were often forced to stay home during menstruation due to the absence of hygienic facilities in schools.
“According to a report by UNICEF in 2023, improving sanitation access could boost attendance rates for adolescent girls by 11 per cent in low-income countries.
“Statistics from World Health Organisation in 2023 says that 80 per cent of the wastewater from human activities flows back into the ecosystem untreated, thereby causing widespread environmental harm.
“As students and future leaders, your role in this movement is to share the knowledge you gain here today with your families and communities.
“Advocate for improved sanitation in your schools and public spaces and be part of the conversations that normalise discussions about toilets and hygiene, which aims to break down taboos and drive meaningful change.
“Remember, every small action counts. Let us work together to flush away the global sanitation crisis,” Arukwe added.
Earlier, the school Principal, Mr Bako Kumbam, commended the foundation for the programme, noting that it would sustain the campaign and promote understanding of the role of sanitation in disease prevention and health improvement.
Speaking on the programme, Miss Cynthia Otanwo, Head Girl of the school, while expressing satisfaction with the programme, thanked the NNPC Foundation for the enlightenment and exposure to sanitary etiquettes on toilet usage.
Master Moses Ifeanyichukwu, Head Boy of the school, said that ‘cleanliness is next to godliness’.
He urged the Federal Government to build more public toilets to prevent open defecation to avert diseases. (NAN)
