The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has warned that Nigeria faces a major public health and education challenge, with only 11 percent of schools nationwide having access to basic Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) services.

Speaking at a media dialogue on WASH facilities in Kano on Wednesday, UNICEF's Chief of Field Office, Rahamah Farrah, said the lack of clean water and sanitation in schools and health centres is fuelling absenteeism, especially among girls, and exposing millions of children to preventable diseases such as cholera and malaria.

"Schools and healthcare centres are lifelines for children's health and learning. Without clean water and sanitation, absenteeism rises and infectious diseases spread rapidly, undermining Nigeria's progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals," Farrah said.

He explained that while Jigawa and Katsina have made progress towards eliminating open defecation, many states in the northwest still lag behind, with handwashing facilities and hygiene infrastructure scoring below national averages.

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According to him, UNICEF, with support from the UK government, has invested £19 million in climate-resilient infrastructure under the CRIPS programme, delivering 84 health and education facilities in Kano and Jigawa last year.

The initiative, he said, is now being expanded to Bauchi, Gombe, Kaduna and Katsina states.

Farrah then urged the media to play a stronger role in holding the government accountable for budget allocations and implementation of WASH projects.

Representing the Kano State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), the board's Secretary, Hajiya Amina Umar, said the state has a total of 8,782 schools, comprising 7,331 primary and 1,451 junior secondary schools.

She explained that out of the number, 5,884 schools currently have WASH facilities.