Okowa Declares State of Emergency on Water, Sanitation in Delta

Okowa Declares State of Emergency on Water, Sanitation in Delta

’FG determined to end open defecation by 2025’

Omon-Julius Onabu in Asaba

Confronted by the enormity of water and environmental challenges in Delta State, the state Governor, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, yesterday in Asaba declared a ‘state of emergency’ in the water and sanitation sectors.

The governor also assumed the chairmanship of a high-powered steering committee on the state water and sanitation hygiene (WASH) services, which he launched, and will soon swing into operation.

This is coming at a time experts have expressed the need for relevant authorities in Nigeria to take urgent steps in addressing the challenges of growing open defecation which has further aggravated the country’s health problems.

The governor noted that a lot is required for Nigeria to provide adequate public water and sanitation facilities for it growing population, while assuring them that the water and sanitation sectors were receiving more attention with regards to funding.

Inaugurating the steering committee for the Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene Services (WASH) yesterday, Okowa said the committee would “proffer effective reforms as well as formulate policies to end open defecation.”

According to the governor, “In the next four years, we will increase the allocation to water and sanitation sectors and hold those in the sectors accountable as we intend to have good value for any money released.

‘’Water, as the saying goes, is life, but regrettably, we have not done enough collectively as a country in the provision of public water and sanitation facilities for our ever growing population.

“Available statistics from the UNICEF-WHO Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) shows that access to pipe-borne water in household in urban areas declined from 32 percent in 1990 to less than 10 percent in 2015, and in the same token, access to improved sanitation dropped from 38 percent to 29 percent. This clearly suggests an erosion of WASH utility service coverage, and it is shocking that while population is increasing, WASH asset is depleting.

“Nigeria currently ranks second in the world after India in terms of people defecating in the open, as about 25 percent of our population still practices open defecation. The Sustainable Development Goals 6.1 and 6.2 seek to stop open defecation by 2025 and ensure access to sustainable and safely managed WASH services by 2030.”

While thanking President Muhammadu Buhari for declaring state of emergency on the revitalisation of WASH services, Okowa threw his weight behind the strategies contained in the National Action Plan of the federal government.

The governor also thanked the European Union, UNICEF and USAID for their support and various interventions on the improvement of the state WASH services since the beginning of his administration.

The Minister of Water Resources, Suleiman Adamu, had in an address read by Mr. Osikela Omo-Ikirodah, commended the Okowa’s administration for declaring the state of emergency, assuring him that such has opened the state for financial and technical assistance from the federal government which is determined to end open defecation in Nigeria by 2025.

Goodwill messages were also received during the ceremony from the representatives of various bodies, including UNICEF, EU/NDSP and USAID.

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