Get Guardian on GoogleA National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) member, Samuel Felix Ekanem, serving in Iganna Kingdom, Iwajowa Local Council of Oyo State, has built a public toilet for the host community.
Ekanem said the facility represents his contribution to fight against open defecation in the country. He lamented that residents defecated by the roadsides, in the bushes, gutters, or …“do it into nylon and throw it over the fence.”
He alleged that over 70 percent of the houses in that area lacked toilet facility, a situation which has made open defecation inevitable, adding that even Corps members posted to the community, equally defecate openly, as there are no toilets in their respective lodges.
Meanwhile, a global survey has identified Nigeria as the second in the world among countries where open defecation is prevalent. Only India is ranked worse than Nigeria in the Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH NORM) survey conducted by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). The Nigerian Ministry of Water Resources and National Bureau of Statistics took part in the Nigerian survey, an official said.
Apart from Nigeria, five other African countries are among the worst 10 where open defecation is prevalent. They include Ethiopia (third), Niger (seventh), Sudan (eighth), Chad (ninth) and Mozambique (tenth)…”
Ekanem said the project, which cost N2.2m, was executed in partnership with the Chief Executive Officer, Highland Specialist Hospital, Ibadan, Dr. John Olabisi; Chief Whip, Oyo State House of Assembly, Hakeem Adedibu; President, Club Seventy-Six, Iganna, Chief Adewonyi Adekanbi and Chairman, Iganna Local Council Development Area, John Adeleke,
The Corps member, Samuel Felix Ekanem, with the state code: OY/19B/5916, hails from Essien Udim Local Council of Akwa Ibom State. He graduated from the University of Uyo, Uyo. He studied Communication Arts.
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