The Katsina State Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency (RUWASSA) says six additional Local Government Areas in the state would soon be declared Open Defecation Free (ODF), under the Sanitation, Hygiene and Water in Nigeria project (SHAWN).
The agency’s Executive Director, Alhaji Aminu Dayyabu-Safana, disclosed this to newsmen on Monday in Katsina.
Dayyabu-Safana said that the project was being supported by the United Nation Children Funds (UNICEF).
He said that the agency’s team had paid advocacy visit to the stakeholders in those areas with the aim of intensifying efforts toward attainment of the desired goal.
He gave names of the local governments as: Dutsinma, Ingawa, Kafur, Kaita, Mai’adua and Rimi, pointing out that the areas were now waiting for validation before the final declaration.
News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that already, Bakori, Matazu, Musawa, Safana and Sandamu local government areas were validated and certified ODF.
The executive director, therefore, said all hands must be on deck to ensure eradication of open defecation and ensure that the environment was totally sanitized for a healthy society.
He said that construction of households and public latrines with cover, provision of hand washing facilities and total avoidance of open defecation were critical to the attainment of open defecation free status.
He said that traditional and community leaders had important role to play in changing people’s behaviour regarding hygiene and sanitation.
Dayyabu-Safana said that the Federal Ministry of Water Resources had sent a notification and congratulatory letter to Gov. Aminu Masari on the declaration of the five local government areas as open defecation free.
