Wife of the Lagos State Governor, Dr Ibijoke Sanwo-olu has flagged off the open Defecation free/Hygiene Behavior Change campaign in the Ikorodu Division of the state.
The campaign which is in line with SDG goal 6 of ensuring a open Defecation free society by year 2030 is a collaboration of the Lagos Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources, Lagos Waste Forum and its development partner, WaterAid Nigeria.
At the campaign launch at Musical Village in Ikorodu, Dr Ibijoke Sanwo-olu who was also decorated as Clean Lagos Ambassador was represented by Mrs Victoria Olowu who promised to champion the campaign to keep diseases away and ensure a healthier environment in Lagos.
WaterAid Nigeria Country Director, Ms Evelyn Mere, said statistics show seventy five percent Lagosians lack access to safely managed sanitation and sixty five percent also lack adequate hygiene services, hence the need for public private partnership to end open Defecation and ensure hygiene behavior changes in residents to achieve the set objectives.
The Country Director who was represented by the WaterAid Nigeria Head of Advocacy, Policy and Communications, Mr Kolawole Banwo, highlighted the many interventions of WaterAid Nigeria in WASH services in Lagos and urged the state government to use them as a model in provision of sanitation and hygiene services for residents.
In an address of welcome, the Special Adviser to the Governor on the Environment, Mr Rotimi Akodu, said the objective of the campaign was to protect public health and enhance the dignity and safety of Lagosians especially girls and women.
He called on all stakeholders’ including community leaders, students, market men and women, traditional and religious leaders to join in the campaign to make Lagos the cleanest state in the country.
The event was attended by representatives of UNICEF, Use the Toilet Campaign, Community Development Committees/Associations, Students, Sanitation Officers and other relevant stakeholders.
The campaign which will soon be taken to other IBILE divisions aligns with the National Open Defecation free campaign aims to reach five million residents through multiple touch points to contribute to a cleaner Lagos.
Reporting by Yemisi Dada