Sanitation for all is one of the Sustainable Development Goals envisaged by the United Nations for a better future
In what can be termed as a lesson worth emulating for India, the Lagos state government has started sealing off houses without standard toilets to curb open defecation.
Oluwatoyin Awosika, the director of public enlightenment in the state’s ministry of information and strategy, was quoted by the media as saying that the closure of houses was to check “unwholesome practices”.
Lagos is the largest city in Nigeria. According to Awosika, the government is also looking forward to spread awareness among the residents on the negative impacts of defecating in the open.
“We would continue to educate people on the need to stop open defecation. Again, you don’t blame some of these people for doing these things, so many houses don’t have toilets. So many houses don’t have bathrooms, so naturally, you find these people doing it outside,” he said.
According to media sources, the state government is working with several non-governmental organisations to end open defecation.
“The environmental law is clear, every house must have a standard kitchen, standard toilet, standard bathroom, they must have proper drainage around the house and water system,” Awosika was quoted by the media as saying.
Sanitation for all is one of the Sustainable Development Goals envisaged by the United Nations for a better future.
The Swachh Bharat Mission is Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s pet project. The aim is to achieve a clean India by 2019.
Following this initiave, Churu in Rajasthan was declared open defecation-free. Nadia in West Bengal also followed suit.
However, India still has a long way to go to achieve the open defecation-free status.
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