UNICEF says over 48 million Nigerians defecate in the open.

UNICEF Programme Specialist, Ogochukwu Adimorah disclosed this on Monday at the first Toilet Business Owners Conference themed: Providing the Toilet Nigeria needs to end Open Defecation: The Role of TBOS holding at Bolton White Hotel, Abuja.

She said the number defecate in the open due to lack of access to adequate toilet facilities.

She also said 90 million Nigerians who have access need to improve their toilet sanitation, going by recent study conducted on toilet and sanitation in Nigeria.

Quoting the study, Adimorah said 60% of toilet owners in Nigeria need to evacuate their toilets, while 45% of the toilets are readily evacuable.

The UNICEF Specialist, who spoke on private sector engagement in WASH program, further disclosed that a total of N2.3 billion of sanitation expenses was spent by Nigerian households on toilet emptying in 2021.

On the spread of the access, she said of the 774 LGAs in Nigeria, only 102 LGAs are open-defecation free, leaving 672 LGAs vulnerable to open-defecation.

Earlier in her remarks, Chief of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) at UNICEF, Jane Bevan, said Nigeria's current construction rate is 180,000 - 200,000 toilets annually, which she said is grossly insufficient to address the present challenge.

Bevan, who described the conference as critical, said that Toilet Business Owners were vital to ending open defecation challenges in Nigeria.