Onyebuchi Ezigbo
28 July 2008
Abuja — Federal government has lamented the abysmal state of affairs regarding the implementation of sanitation projects by the lower tiers of government, saying such a situation was constituting a major draw-back to the national aspiration to achieve a clean and healthy environment .
Minister of Environment, Housing and Urban Development, Mrs Halima Tayo Alao, made the federal government's position known on Friday, in an interview shortly after the commemoration of the national environmental sanitation day in Abuja.
She expressed concern over the seemingly low rate of participation by some states and local governments in the nationwide efforts aimed at promoting clean neighbourhoods and riding the environment of filths.
"Let me use this opportunity to express my displeasure at the slow pace of the implementation of the national environmental sanitation policy by all tiers of government, particularly local governments", she said.
She disclosed that the Ministry had embarked on an ˜Integrated Waste Management" programme in partnership with the private sector which, according to her, had rolled out in phases in major cities across the country.
Alao however complained of apathy on the part of other tiers of government , saying many states and local governments were yet to reintroduce the sanitary inspection of premises as enunciated in the policy, despite directive by the National Council on Environment, Housing and Urban Development.It would be recalled that Water Aid, an international non-governmental organisation devoted to the provision of safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene education, estimates that 56 percent of Nigerians and 58.54 percent of
primary school children do not have access to improved sanitation. Country Representative of Water Aid, Mr. Jonathan Burton, said 52 percent of Nigerians lack access to safe water sources as well, adding that the major reason for this could be traceable to poor sanitation in the country.Alao said a lot of progress could be made if all the states and local governments join hands with the federal government to put in place a functional environmental sanitation programme.The Minister said a well-executed environmental sanitation programme is an imperative for socio-economic development which would impact on all the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), including poverty reduction, reduction in infant mortality and HIV/AIDS epidemic in the country.
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