The Federal Government revealed that fewer than 36 percent of Nigerians have access to improved toilet facilities, a figure that was announced by the Minister of Environment, Balarabe Abbas Lawal, during a press briefing in Abuja on Tuesday in commemoration of World Toilet Day 2026.
Lawal, represented by Director of Pollution Control and Environmental Health Mrs Omotunde Adeola, warned that many public spaces—including markets, motor parks, schools and communities—still lack adequate and functional toilets. He said the shortfall is driving open defecation, contaminating food and water sources and contributing to the spread of sanitation‑related diseases such as cholera and typhoid.
The minister highlighted that women, girls, children, older persons and people with disabilities are disproportionately affected. “No child should miss school because of inadequate toilet facilities, and no woman or girl should be forced to compromise her safety and dignity because of the absence of suitable toilets,” he said.
Lawal placed the national situation in a global context, noting that about 4.5 billion people worldwide still lack safely managed sanitation and that 892 million continue to practice open defecation. He said the figures underscore the urgency of accelerating progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals for clean water and sanitation, gender equality, good health and sustainable communities by 2030.
To address the challenge, the ministry is working with other ministries, state governments and development partners on several programmes. These include capacity building for Environmental Health Officers on faecal sludge management and toilet design, the Clean and Green Programme, and the Community‑Based Waste Management and Open Defecation Control Programme. Other initiatives involve integrating sanitation into climate‑adaptation and circular‑economy projects and partnering with private‑sector operators to deliver environmentally friendly facilities.
As part of the World Toilet Day celebrations, the ministry will host a National Dialogue on Faecal Sludge Management on 23 November 2026, involving seven selected states across the six geopolitical zones and the Federal Capital Territory. A community sensitisation campaign will also take place in Kpadna Community, Utako, Abuja on 19 November, with health talks, interactive discussions and demonstrations by Environmental Health Officers. The commemoration will run simultaneously across all 36 states and the FCT through community outreach, advocacy campaigns and sanitary inspections of public places.
Lawal urged state and local governments to strengthen faecal sludge and wastewater management systems, households to adopt proper toilet use and handwashing, and the private sector to invest in affordable, climate‑resilient sanitation technologies. He called on development partners and civil society organisations to sustain support for advocacy and infrastructure development, and stressed that women and girls should actively participate in designing, implementing and monitoring sanitation interventions. This year’s World Toilet Day theme is “Sanitation and Gender Equality,” with the tagline “Safe Toilets. Equal Futures.”
<small>Source: Vanguard News — read the original story there.</small>
