By YANGE IKYAA
Nigerian schools are to get better toilet facilities the Federal Government made provision in the 2023 budget to end the poor conditions of toilet facilities on campuses across tertiary institutions in the country.
The minister of water resources, Suleiman Adamu, while speaking at a press conference on Thursday in Abuja in preparation for the World Toilet Summit, said the ministry is also willing to partner with relevant stakeholders in the educational sector in order to achieve the set target.
According to him, the new initiative, known as School WASH, will be first targeted at Federal Government institutions, including colleges of education, universities and polytechnics, starting from 2023.
“We are ready and hope that the federal ministry of education is ready. We will be talking to State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), and Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) and will also carry states and local councils along.
He said this became imperative because, despite all that had been done in the past, the indices on toilet facilities have continued to be negative.
In his own words, “we have sent a draft Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to the Ministry of Education, we also have a budget line starting from 2023, we hope the ministry will keep pace with our enthusiasm to ensure we attack these indices.”
In her welcome address, the permanent secretary in the ministry of water resources,Didi Walson-Jack, said the summit’s theme is, ” Towards Sanitation Innovations for Economic Development,” will provide an opportunity to enable participants, exhibitors and stakeholders to have a wider range of vision within the sanitation value chain.
The World Toilet Summit is scheduled for November 18 and November 19, 2022 in Abuja.