The Federal Government, along with UNICEF and the Government of the Netherlands, has completed projects to help nearly a million people in Adamawa, Borno, and Yobe access clean water.
These projects also aim to boost health and wellbeing, especially for women and girls in rural areas.
Mr. Jonathan Ekhato from UNICEF mentioned this at a meeting in Gombe. He said the projects had positive effects in six areas across the three states, benefiting communities like Guyuk, Jada, Magumeri, Biu, Geidam, and Fune.
Around 880,000 people stopped open defecation and started using clean toilets. Some areas like Biu, Guyuk, and Jada are now declared free from open defecation.
These efforts helped reduce waterborne diseases, with 500 new water points built and 1,000 others repaired.
Also, 54 schools and 38 healthcare centers now have basic water, sanitation, and hygiene services.
Dr. Nicholas Dumebi from the Ministry of Water Resources stressed the need for plans to maintain these facilities.
“When we started the programme in 2019, there was a sustainability plan developed like an agreement to sustain the facilities”.
“And today, we are developing a sustainability action plan to leverage on that because in Nigeria sustainability is a big issue,” he said.
He said that almost half of them were at risk of not being sustainable. There were initial plans, but now they are working on a new plan to ensure the facilities last.
UNICEF’s WASH Manager, Chiranjibi Tiwari, also highlighted the importance of water access and sustainable plans to continue benefiting the communities. The government is teaming up with UNICEF to improve lives across Nigeria.
The Emir Jajete in Yobe praised the projects, saying they greatly improved the lives of rural people by giving them access to clean water.
