President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday declared a state of emergency on the nation’s water supply, sanitation and hygiene sector.
Buhari made the declaration while inaugurating the National Action Plan for Revitalisation of Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
He said the declaration has become necessary to reduce the high rate of water-borne diseases in various parts of the country; a situation he said has caused preventable deaths.
The president directed government at all levels to redouble efforts and work towards meeting the nation’s water supply and sanitation needs.
“This cannot be achieved if we continue with ‘a business as usual’ approach. It is on this premise that I fully endorse the decision taken at the meeting of the Federal Executive Council in April this year to declare a state of emergency on our WASH sector,” he added.
The president, who said statistics on open defecation, access to piped water services and sanitation in the country was disturbing, warned that henceforth, the Federal Government’s support to state governments would be based on their commitment to implement the National WASH Action Plan which is geared towards ending open defecation by 2025.
President Buhari also seized the opportunity to reiterate that the provision of potable water supply, adequate sanitation and hygiene were primarily the responsibilities of state and local governments.
“However, these are not being given the required attention judging from the high prevalence of water-borne diseases that are being reported in different parts of the country.
“We cannot and will not continue to allow these preventable occurrences to decimate our population,” he said.
