The Lagos State Government has approved the construction of 100 new public toilets, to tackle the menace of open defecation across the state.
According to the government, through these toilet facilities, the state achieves a cleaner, healthier, and more sustainable future for residents of Lagos State.
The Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, Tokunboh Wahab, disclosed this on Tuesday while celebrating the 2024 World Toilet Day themed ‘Use the Toilet and Have Peace’.
Wahab disclosed that the number of public toilets were approved by the government to ensure public toilets and bathrooms were available in each Local Government and Local Council Development Area in Lagos.
He argued that with the facilities, the government would be preventing human waste spreads and outbreaks of cholera, diarrhea, and other diseases that could affect community health and the well-being of citizens.
According to him, the indiscriminate open defecation has now become a precarious situation in Lagos metropolis due to the surge in population arising from the daily influx of people into the State from across the country.
Aside from that, the commissioner noted that the Babajide Sanwo-Olu administration would be securing partnerships, investments, and community engagement to end open defecation in Lagos.
He said: “The Lagos State Government is leading the charge against open defecation with a 4-cardinal roadmap: Advocacy and Sensitization, bridging infrastructure gaps, standardizing and regularizing facilities, and monitoring and enforcement.
“So far, the state government has launched the Clean Nigeria, Use the Toilet Campaign in 13 Local Government Areas, engaged communities across 22 councils to drive grassroots sanitation awareness, trained 250 Public Toilet Operators & Janitors for better service delivery, released operational guidelines for Public Toilet Management, upgraded and regularized 16 private-public toilets”.
