During the 2012 celebration of National Environment Sanitation Day, the Minister of Environment, Mrs. Hadiza Mailafia declared that more than 25 million Nigerians lack toilet facilities.
In her statement, the minister said “Over 15 percent of Nigerians don’t have access to toilet facilities, therefore making them urinate and defecate by the walls of buildings and on streets respectively… 55 percent of Nigerians make use of pit latrines and only 30 percent have good toilet facilities.”
This, she lamented, has contributed substantially to poor hygiene in Nigeria, saying it has adversely contributed to the nation’s record on high mortality rate. She also identified unhealthy environment as a major cause of children’s medical problem such as cholera, etc.
The minister pointed out, however, that the Federal Government (FG) has completed plans to correct this anomally. She said that the environment ministry will be working in partnership with the ministry of health to safeguard the health condition and ensure cleanliness of the people.
