Vice President Kashim Shettima says Nigeria’s revised 2030 target to end open defecation is achievable but only with renewed commitment from all stakeholders.
Shettima stated this at the 6th Anniversary of the Clean Nigeria Campaign and the 2025 World Toilet Day commemoration, in Abuja.
The Vice President, represented by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Humanitarian Affairs, Inna Binta Audu, announced that a revised Presidential Executive Order on achieving an Open-Defecation-Free Nigeria has been signed and is now being gazetted.
He explained that the new Order strengthens the legal and institutional framework for sanitation, expands private-sector participation and introduces tougher monitoring and enforcement measures.
Shettima emphasised that access to sanitation is a fundamental human right and a key pillar of President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
The Vice President highlighted the administration’s focus on Water, Sanitation and Hygiene as central to public health and human-capital development.
He noted that access to clean water and sanitation reduces disease, improves school attendance, and empowers women and girls.
Shettima called for climate-smart and water-efficient sanitation systems to address pressures from climate change, rapid urbanisation and population growth.
He commended state and local governments, traditional rulers, civil society groups, development partners and the private sector for supporting the Clean Nigeria Campaign.
Earlier, the Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, Professor Terlumun Utsev, reaffirmed Nigeria’s commitment to ending open defecation.
He announced that 158 local government areas have so far achieved open-defecation-free status, adding that at least ten more states are expected to join the two already certified before the end of the year.
Also, a representative from the World Bank, Ms Judith Warmate, reaffirmed a strong commitment to supporting Nigeria in achieving universal access to safely managed sanitation by the year 2030.
Ms Warmate, who said sanitation remains a human right and a foundation for national development, noted that poor sanitation continues to cost Nigeria billions of naira every year through preventable illness, lost productivity, and its impact on children’s health and education.
She stressed that with just a few years left to the 2030 deadline, Nigeria must accelerate implementation and ensure that no community is left behind.
She highlighted the World Bank’s ongoing support through programmes such as SURWASH, Citywide Inclusive Sanitation, the P-WASH initiative and capacity-building efforts at the National Water Resources Institute.
She also reaffirmed the Bank’s continued backing for the Clean Nigeria Campaign adding that innovation, stronger private-sector engagement, and data-driven decision-making are essential if Nigeria is to meet its national targets.
In a goodwill message, UNICEF’s Chief of WASH, Dr Jane Bevan, commended the Clean Nigeria Campaign and thanked UNICEF field teams across all states for their dedication toward achieving open-defecation-free status nationwide.
