Governance
How Clean Nigeria Campaign Is Critical To Fg’s Poverty Reduction, Social Inclusion & Other Efforts, by VP Osinbajo
Aside the main goal of ending open defecation across the country, the Buhari administration is prioritizing the Clean Nigeria Campaign as its success contributes to key initiatives including, enhancing social inclusion; poverty reduction; business growth, and entrepreneurship; greater access to quality education and affordable healthcare, among others.
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, stated this in his remarks delivered virtually at a ceremony organized to mark the first anniversary of Clean Nigeria: Use the Toilet Campaign, today.
According to the Vice President, “the success of the Clean Nigeria Campaign will contribute to some of the key priority areas of this Government which include enhancing social inclusion and poverty reduction, expanding business growth and entrepreneurship; and expanding access to quality education, affordable healthcare and productivity of Nigerians.”
Continuing, Prof. Osinbajo said “we are aware that access to adequate Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) services is a critical factor in the socio-economic development of any nation and contributes to human capital outcomes such as early childhood survival, health and educational attainment. Access to WASH services is also one of the key preventive measures in the raging global COVID-19 pandemic.”
Speaking about the role of the private sector in the actualization of the objectives, Prof. Osinbajo stated that “the initiative of the Organized Private Sector in Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (OPS-WASH) tagged ‘FLUSHIT’ which aims at promoting private sector-led innovative financial strategies in WASH, is a welcome development.”
He emphasized that “the role of the private sector is critical in building a virile sanitation economy which will drive the sustenance of the results being achieved under the Clean Nigeria Campaign.”
Restating the commitment of the Federal Government to the success of the campaign especially by appointing campaign ambassadors to support the process, Prof. Osinbajo said “in our desire to aggressively mobilize the entire country towards ending the practice of open defecation, we have identified Campaign Ambassadors to support the national drive towards open defecation free status.”
The Vice President explained that “these are citizens who have contributed to the existing successes achieved so far under the Campaign or have been identified as persons of influence who can significantly advance the Campaign.
“Clean Nigeria Campaign Ambassador will be required to provide leadership in advancing the objectives of the Campaign and engage in Campaign activities as may be initiated by you or other stakeholders.”
Giving further insights about what the Federal Government is doing to sustain current efforts, Prof. Osinbajo said “the Clean Nigeria Campaign is backed by Presidential Executive Order 009 which gives effect to its implementation.”
“The Executive Order provides that the National Open Defecation Free (ODF) Roadmap be put into effect towards meeting the national target of ending open defecation by 2025.
“It mandates the ‘Clean Nigeria Campaign Secretariat’ in collaboration with relevant government institutions to ensure that all public places including schools, hotels, fuel stations, places of worship, market places, hospitals and offices have accessible toilets within their premises.
“It also provides for the enactment of legislation appropriate sanctions and penalties to back up the fight against open defecation while ensuring that all developmental projects include the construction of sanitation facilities as an integral part of the approval and implementation process,” the Vice President added.
Prof. Osinbajo however noted that “ending open defecation is not just about access to toilets. It is about generating demand for toilets and changing people’s behaviour regarding toilet usage. The Clean Nigeria Campaign as a transformational and behaviour change campaign will require the contribution and commitment of everyone: government at all levels, civil society, private sector, development partners and the entire populace in building a new culture of safe sanitation.”
The campaign to end open defecation in Nigeria was launched about a year ago to galvanize efforts from both public and private sectors to promote water, sanitation and hygiene in the 774 Local Government Areas (LGAs) across the country. So far, 33 LGAs in the country are known to be open defecation free.
Aside the host, the Minister of Water Resources, Engr Suleiman Adamu, other officials at the event include the Minister of State for FCT, Hajiya Ramatu Tijjani Aliyu; representatives of Ekiti State Governor, Kayode Fayemi, and development partners and the organized private sector.
Established by Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq CON, Kwara State Geographic Information Service (KW-GIS) provides modern and efficient land administration in the State.The agency has since improved land administration and other processes related to land with the use of technology and digital platforms.It has also led to the harmonisation of all departments dealing with land administration to minimise bottlenecks and enhance efficiency.The reforms at KW-GIS has also secured land documents and curtail activities of land grabbers, as efforts are ongoing to digitise and serialise R of O, C of O, and other title documents.KW-GIS collates, gathers, analyse and digitise all geospatial data in the state and store them in a central database that can deliver products such as maps, satellite imageries, survey plans, building permits, among others.#IjobaMekunu#IseNlo
Prince Adewole Adebayo, the Social Democratic Party’s (SDP) candidate for president, says his administration will focus on creating powerful institutions that will aid in limiting governmental excesses.
At a Town Hall Meeting titled “Building Nigeria’s Steel, Petrochemical, and Agroallied Industries,” which was hosted by media giant Arise Television, he made this bold declaration as a guest.
He said that this was nothing new because Alhaji Tafawa Balewa, the country’s then-prime minister, included it in the first development plan for the years 1960 to 1965.
As part of the “import substitution program,” which aimed to lessen the importation of those minerals, Prince Adebayo noted that these plans gave rise to the development of the Ajaokuta Steel Plant, Ajala Steel, and other companies.
He added that the First Republic’s accomplishments were a result of public servant discipline, clearly defined objectives, and a powerful Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The legal authority claimed that the CBN was so powerful that the bank’s former governor stopped General Yakubu Gowon, the country’s head of state at the time, from using money to buy ammunition for the Civil War.
The CBN is currently too weak to stand up to the current administration, and a large portion of the proceeds from the sale of crude oil are missing and unreported.
Addressing the solutions, he stated: “We already have the solution, but I need to establish a government that will make things function. To make it work, the CBN will have complete control over the amount of money in circulation, the price of money, and inflation.
In terms of money spent, my government would also be answerable to the people. In order to sort out deteriorating and unfinished projects, we will also establish project management.
We’ll achieve this by developing an economy that will draw capital to finish those projects and provide a stable exchange rate.
Additionally, he pledged to lower unemployment rates, keep inflation at single digits, and build a social system that will thrive on brains.
The Nigerian Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) has expressed concern over a bill at the House of Representatives, seeking abolition of local government councils in Nigeria.
Mr Hakeem Ambali, National President, NULGE, said this when he spoke with newsmen in Kano.
Ambali, represented by Mr Aliyu Haruna, NULGE National Treasurer, said abolishing local councils will worsen the security situation in the country.
“A lawmaker from Rivers has sponsored a bill at the House of Representatives seeking to abolish local government councils in Nigeria.
“In spite of the fact that governors have refused to implement the local government autonomy, what we are witnessing now is an attempt to abolish the local government councils in the country. This is a gang up against the masses.
“This is an attempt to bring the country backward. Therefore, we are calling on the National Assembly to look into the issue, which is an attempt to take away what remain for the people at the grassroots.
“I assured you that if the local government autonomy is implemented by the governors, the issue of insecurity would have been a thing of the past, because some security issues can be handled locally,” he said.
Ambali added that once the local government councils were granted full autonomy, socio-economic activities will spring up at the grassroots level.
He said that NULGE had made contact with the leadership of the National Assembly on the issue, adding that if such did not yield good result, it will embark on strike.
Ambali also expressed concern over sack of about 2,000 workers by the Kaduna State government as well as the slashing of workers’ salary by the Kano State government.
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