President Muhammadu Buhari; Minister of Water Resources, Engr. Suleiman H. Adamu and United Nations Deputy Secretary General, Amina Mohammed have received The World Toilet Organization (WTO) Hall of Fame awards.

Twelve Governors were also honoured with the National Open Defecation Free (ODF) achievement awards for their giant strides in combating open defecation in their respective States.

They include Mohammed Badaru Abubakar (Jigawa); Aminu Bello Masari (Katsina); Samuel Ortom (Benue); Bala Mohammed (Bauchi); Prof. Ben Ayade (Cross River); Prof. Charlse Chukwuma Soludo (Anambra); Bello Matawalle (Zamfara); Udom Gabriel Emmanuel (Akwa Ibom); Mai Mala Buni (Yobe); Adebayo Oyetola (Osun).

The World Toilet Organization (WTO), World Bank representatives, UNICEF, Organized Private Sector in Water, Sanitation and Hygiene OPS-WASH and stakeholders from several parts of the world all gathered at the Capital Territory Abuja on Friday, as Nigeria hosts the World Toilet Summit 2022.

Founder of WTO, Jack Sim congratulated the awardees for the progress made in the fight against open defecation in Nigeria and spurred them to do more.

He said that he started the WTO because there are about 2 million children dying of diarrhea every year, saying open defecation is unspoken everywhere, but progress cannot be made without discussing it.

He said that many world leaders are now becoming toilet champions, a subject that was unspoken and many entertainment and movie stars are making movies about toilets.

He further explained how sanitation innovations can enhance economic development in a country.

“When a country is clean, it attracts investment, when there is investment, there is job and high productivity when people are not sick. When a country thinks clean, eventually their brain becomes clean, and corruption often disappears. In Singapore, there is no longer corruption after we cleaned up the toilets, streets, and rivers.” Jack said.

While expressing gratitude to WTO for the award and choosing Nigeria to host the 2022 World Toilet Day, Buhari maintained that by 2030, Nigeria seeks to end open defecation nationwide.

Abubakar, who received both the WTO Hall of Fame award and the National ODF Achievement being the only State in Nigeria to attain ODF status across all LGAs, expressed appreciation to WTO for the recognition.

However, he explained that the journey has been a very difficult one due to traditions and cultures that make people practice open defecation. He said the success was because of numerous programs to enlighten people on the dangers of open defecation.

Badaru hailed the Minister of Water Resources, Prof. Suleiman Adamu for his praiseworthy efforts in his fight against open defecation and for putting the competition among the Governors. (The Nation)

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