Oyo govt, UNICEF to end open defecation in more LGAs

The Oyo State Government and the United Nations Children Education Fund (UNICEF) have concluded plans to adopt more Local Government Areas (LGAs) in the state for the Open Defecation Free (ODF) programme.

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The Director of Sanitation, Oyo State Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency (RUWASSA), Mrs Titilayo Obayemi, disclosed this in an interview with the Newsmen on Tuesday in Ibadan.

Obayemi said Ibarapa-East Local Government Area in the state had been selected as the third local government that would be triggered for the ODF programme. She described the selection process as competitive and transparent.

Obayemi noted that monitoring and other follow up programmes would continue at Egbeda and Ona Ara council areas that were initially triggered for the ODF programme.

She recalled that the state government in 2022 launched a roadmap on open defecation to avert its negative impact on health and wellness of the general citizens.

She noted that the roadmap would enable the state to plan on how the 33 LGAs in the state would be open defecation free by 2028.

Obayemi, however, described as worrisome, the practice of open defecation in the state, noting that government was doing everything possible to meet its target of open defecation free society by 2028.

“The state government started the ODF project in Egbeda and Ona Ara LGAs as pilots to end open defecation. We started with mobilisation of the stakeholders with the help of UNICEF and we have been able to trigger some of the communities within the LGAs.Out of 22 wards in Egbeda and Ona Ara LGAs, 15 have so far been triggered, eight in Egbeda and seven in Ona Ara LGAs. The project will be extended to the remaining wards this year. We have about 1,000 communities in the two council areas and we have triggered some of them to be open defecation free,” she said.

Obayemi commended UNICEF for their support for Water, Sanitation and Hygiene in the state.

She, however, called for more donors and corporate organisations to support and complement government efforts in the quest to make the state open defecation free by 2028.

“We can run the ODF programme simultaneously across all the 33 LGAs in the state if we get adequate support. If we have more donors and required supports, we are sure that Oyo State can become open defecation free before 2028,” she said.

NAN/Wumi