Executive Summary
The Government of Nigeria is committed to end open defecation in the country by 2025 which is in line with the revised global target set by the United Nations. Towards this end, FMWR requested UNICEF, Nigeria to undertake the development of a road map for making Nigeria open-defecationfree by 2025.The present exercise is the outcome of this resolve.
Presently (2015) around 46 million people in Nigeria defecate in the open. Another 56 million people are estimated to be added during the next ten years. This means a total of 102 million people or 20 million households should have access to a toilet and use it. Besides, sanitation facilities have to be provided to numerous institutions such as schools, health centres, market centres, motor parks, highway eateries, jetties and religious places so as not to have any open defecation around these places.
The adverse impact of open defecation is now well documented. According to a World Bank Report (2012), around 122,000 Nigerians including 87,000 children under 5 die each year from diarrhoea; nearly 90% is directly attributed to water, sanitation and hygiene. A very comprehensive review of 21 studies, covering several countries found out a 36% reduction in diarrhoeal morbidity due to improved sanitation.
