Nigeria has recorded 40 per cent sanitation coverage, up from 32 per cent that had spanned two decades, the Federal Ministry of Water Resources has said.
Dr Obioha Agada, the Director of Water Quality and Sanitation in the ministry, disclosed this on Thursday, in an interview with newsmen in Abuja.
Agada noted that the highest previous record was 39 percent, achieved in 1990.
UN and MDG had earlier on set a target of 65 per cent to be achieved by 2015.
According to Agada, all tiers of government, in collaboration with development partners and donor agencies, are expected to contribute their quota toward that target.
He disclosed that various surveys and reports from states, local governments and consultants in the sector indicated that the sanitation level had increased from 32 per cent to 40 per cent.
“Looking at some of the reports we are getting from the consultants, the sanitation coverage as of now is about 40 per cent.
“From all the work we are doing, many states are writing to the ministry, saying that many communities had achieved Open Defecation Free status and we have reports of standard latrine constructions in many communities.
“We are working towards the 65 per cent by 2015, but at the moment through the calculations we have made, we have reached 40 per cent.”
The director observed 70 million people in the country still lacked access to improved sanitation.
He, therefore, pledged the Federal Government’s commitment to ensuring adequate sanitation coverage across the country.
“We are still working with the fact that the population is increasing; so we are going to serve many more people as the days go by.
“We still have not less than 70 million people to serve before we can get to that 65 per cent by 2015.
He said that sensitisation programmes were ongoing in the six geopolitical zones of the country to ensure that the target was met.
“We have done massive sensitisation and training programmes in the six geo political zones; we are working simultaneously in all the zones to enable us reach the needs of the Nigerian people,” Agada said.
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