The federal government yesterday took the campaign against open defecation and personal hygiene to the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp in Edo State run by the Home for the Needy Foundation where it expressed fears of Nigeria not meeting the 2025 target to end open defecation if there is no attitudinal change by Nigerians.
Speaking to the over 3000 dwellers in the facility tucked away in the forest of Ohogua, Ovia North East local government area, Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Hajiya Sadiya Farouq said an estimated 120million people in the country lack access to “improved sanitation facilities, or facilities that hygienically separate human waste from human contact while 124,000 under fives are lost annually as a result of diarrhea”.
Represented by the Director of Social Development in the Ministry, Taiwo Bashorun, Farouq said the federal government launched the Clean Nigeria Campaign in November 2019 to take the campaigns open defecation, personal hygiene to various IDP camps in various parts of the country.
She said “The objective is to encourage the promotion, restoration, maintenance and the use of toilets among the IDPs as well as to support the construction/ rehabilitation of existing toilet facilities in the camps.”
On his part, the Director of Social Welfare, Edo State Ministry of Social Development and Gender Issues Irhabor Taye said the state government would collaborate with the federal government to spread awareness.
The Founder and coordinator of the facility, Pastor Solomon Folorunsho said he needs serious support from the federal government in the area of education and food items for the inmates and added that some of the students that sat for the last Joint Admission and Matriculation Board, JAMB exam performed excellently.
He said, “We have over 200 of them in different Universities studying Medicine and Surgery, law and other courses. During the last JAMB examination, the highest person in Nigeria scored 362 and we have a person here that scored 315 and he is 15 years of age.
“Most of them that sat for JAMB here scored over 200. I want the government to pay attention to their education by funding and scholarships. For some time now, we have not received any food items from the government, we don’t know if such have been diverted”.