The Federal Government, on Thursday, said about N48 million Nigerians still engage in open defecation despite just a year left to the deadline to end the practice.
The Minister of State for Environment, Ishaq Salako, who gave the figure on Thursday, said the country needed to build one million public toilets to end the practice.
Salako spoke at a public hearing organised by the House of Representatives Committees on Environment, Water Resources, Works, Ecological Funds and Emergency and Disaster Preparedness.
The minister also stated that over 159 million Nigerians lack access to washing hands facilities.
To remedy the situation, Salako said the Federal Government needed to build one million public toilets across the country’s six geo-political zones.
He noted that the country only has a little over 5,000 public toilets yet.
Salako said his ministry had developed the National Environmental Sanitation Policy and its guidelines on sewage and excreta management to guide on proper disposal of excreta and curb open defecation in the country.
As part of efforts to address the problem, the minister called for the mobilisation of sanitary health inspectors.
He also advised that the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency be mobilised to carry out its role as provided in the law.
