UNICEF Says Ovet 50 Million Nigerians Defecate Outside

In a report issued yesterday by Ijeoma Onuoha-Ogwe, UNICEF ‘A Field Office’ Communication Officer (Advocacy, Media and External Relations) on behalf of Sanjay Wijesekera, head of UNICEF’s global water, sanitation and hygiene programmes, to coincide with World Toilet Day, It disclosed that over 50million Nigerians do not have access to toilets hence resort to open defecation.

The world body also revealed that Nigeria ranks among the five countries in the world with the greatest rates of open defecation.

Wijesekera was also quoted to have said “Nigeria loses over 150,000 children to diarrhea annually. After pneumonia, it is the biggest killer of Nigeria’s under-fives; 88 per cent of diarrhoea cases in Nigeria are attributed to unsafe water and sanitation. Where rates of toilet use are low, rates of diarrhoea tend to be high’’.