By Chioma Umeha
No fewer than 120 million people in Nigeria lack
access to improved sanitation facilities, thereby exposing them to public
health hazards according to recent report from the United Nations Children’s
Fund(UNICEF).
This is just as the 2015 reports of World Health
Organization (WHO) and UNICEF confirmed that an estimated 2.4 billion people
live in poor sanitation conditions with one in every 10 of them defecate in the
open.
The report also said that Nigeria ranks fifth in
the world among countries where open defecation is still a major problem.
This puts millions of Nigerian women and children
are at the risk of contracting infections due to unhygienic and poor sanitary conditions,
the report added.
In view of this, Harpic, one of the leading toilet
cleaning brands from RB, is partnering with the Lagos State Ministry of
Environment to upgrade the toilet facilities within Apapa LGA in Lagos state.
Harpic has been in the vanguard of promoting
importance of good public hygiene. The brand also advocates access to clean
toilets and improved general sanitation conditions in the interest of public
health.
To mark this year’s the World Toilet day the brand
commissioned one of the public toilets it rehabilitated in Apapa, Lagos.
Speaking at the commissioning, Mr. Rahul Murgai,
Managing Director, RB West Africa reinforced Harpic’s Vision and commitment in
co-creating an eco-system to scale-up national awareness on sanitation issues
like open defecation that lead to diarrhoea and other potential health
problems.
He further stated that individual and collective
participation from like-minded players will strongly support the programme and
efforts of the Federal and State government in improving the general health,
hygiene and sanitation conditions in the country.
Dr. Samuel Babatunde Adejare, Lagos State
Commissioner for Environment in his welcome address commended Harpic for their
continued efforts and support in building a hygienic community and a healthy
nation at large.
Dr. Adejare stated that public awareness and the
recent renovation of public toilets with support from Harpic is another step
taken in the right direction.
He called for greater partnership from the private
and public sector to further accelerate their current efforts.
Also speaking at the event, Bamigbaiye-Elatuyi
Omotola, Marketing Manager Harpic, explained that Harpic’s toilet hygiene
programme in Nigeria is a scaled initiative across 16 cities and reaches over
one million homes annually.
Omotola said that the goal is to educate consumers
about the importance of good toilet hygiene, how to maintain clean toilets in
their homes, offices and around the environment to prevent illnesses.
She solicited for collaboration among members of
the society in achieving a behavioural change to tackle the menace of open
defecation.
She urged the residents of the Apapa community to
ensure the renovated and upgraded toilet facilities are well utilized and that
proper sanitary practices will definitely improve public health.
Present at the event were notable dignitaries from
the Lagos State Government, some members of the State House of Assembly, heads
of government agencies and key executives from RB.
