Ekiti Assembly to Make Laws against Open Defecation

As part of efforts to make Ekiti State open defecation-free in 2021, the state House of Assembly would soon enact  a law to stop those engaging in the unhygienic act.

This is as the World Bank, the European Union and the United Nations Children's Endowment Fund (UNICEF) are partnering the state government to provide more infrastructures in the state that would enhance the 2021 open defecation-free target set by the state Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi.

The Chairman of the Assembly Committee on Public Utilities and Infrastructures, Hon. Adeoye Aribasoye, stated this during a recent visit of the committee to the Ministry at the state secretariat in Ado Ekiti at the weekend.

Aribasoye, representing Ikole constituency I, said: "The committee was interested in identifying the areas of challenges with a view to finding lasting solutions to them.

"We know there should be a strong legal framework to help the 2021 vision set by the government. This is a practice we have to stop at all costs because it contributed to some of the illnesses affecting our population.

"At our level, we will ensure the budgetary implementation that would create an enabling environment for the success of the process.

  "Nigeria has set a five-year target to attain open defection-free (ODF) country, and by the end of 2025, the country is expected to be declared ODF by the various regulatory agencies and international bodies while the state Governor, Fayemi, has given the ministry a marching order to design a roadmap towards getting the state out of the mess by the year 2021."

On his own, the Commissioner for Infrastructures and Public Utilities, Hon. Bamidele Faparusi, said the problem of shortage of water supply was being solved through huge investment on Ero and Egbe dams through a strong partnership with European Union and the World Bank.

He added that the low cost toilet facilities provided by UNICEF in Ekiti West senatorial district had made the council open defecation-free drive effective, saying such gesture was being extended to Gbonyin council area.

The commissioner said the ODF vision was to be prosecuted through a programme branded: 'Ekiti Ko Egbin Sile' (Farewell to Open Defecation).

Faparusi said there would be regular water supply to  nine local government areas to drive  the ODF vision with the intervention of the World Bank and European Union on a turnaround maintenance of Ero and Egbe dams, saying poor water supply also contributes to the practice.

"’Ekiti ko Egbin Sile’ was a programme specially designed to accelerate the process of open defecation-free drive in Ekiti State to change the narrative of being ranked second among the states engaging in the menace in Nigeria.

"The European Union has equally financed the construction of model public toilets in 14 small towns in Ekiti West and Gbonyin Local Government Areas of the state under its water supply and sanitation sector reform programme 111, a project tagged farewell to open defecation," he said.