Nigeria gets $5m to tackle sanitation challenges

The Global Sanitation Fund (GSF) hasgranted Nigeria $5 million to tackle sanitation challenges across the country.GSF is an international organisation, established in 2008 by Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC) to improve the life of poor people through enhanced sanitation and water supply.Dr Obioha Agada, Director, Water Quality Control and Sanitation, Federal Ministry of 'Water Resources, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the country would start drawing from the grant as from 2012 at $1 million yearly.He said the fund would be utilised to address sanitation problems especially in the rural areas.``We would take a critical look at rural sanitation system and we are applying the Community Led Total Sanitation approach to reach all the unreached,'' Agada told NAN.The director said the fund would also be used to provide hygienic drinking water for local communities and for the construction of simple toilets in public places like markets and motor parks.``Sanitation is a tasking job as it involves the disposal and management of excreta.``If not well managed, it could lead to the spread of water-borne diseases, particularly in local communities.``When people do not have the means to defecate when they are pressed, they do it in the bush.``The excreta is then washed into water bodies and people go to these water bodies to fetch water and drink without suspecting that it is dangerous to their health, causing cholera or other water-borne diseases,' he said.Agada urged state and local government authorities to assist the Federal Government to solve sanitation problem by sensitising their people and providing them with basic amenities.He said the Federal Government would embark on sensitisation and awareness campaigns in rural communities in Katsina and Jigawa states.``We are also creating institutions to ensure that all the states set up their Sanitation Task Groups as we have at the federal level to help create awareness,'' Agada added.
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