OPEN DEFECATION: Federal Govt Moves To End Open Defecation By 2030

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"Sanitation is not a privilege, but a human right. Ending open defecation and achieving safe sanitation for all, requires collective action and shared responsibility." Balarabe Abbas Lawal, Nigeria's Minister of Environment.

Nigeria's Minister of Environment, Malam Balarabe Lawal Abbass, has expressed the commitment of the Federal Government in tackling sanitation challenges bedeviling and achieving an open defecation-free Nigeria by the year 2030.

Balarabe Abbas Lawal disclosed this position of government at a ministerial press briefing in commemoration of the 2025 World Toilet Day in Abuja.

Minister Lawal, at the event which held on 19 November 2025, also revealed that the commitment was demonstrated through a Presidential Declaration on the State of Emergency on Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene.

He re-echoed the federal government’s signing of Executive Order 009, titled; "The Open Defecation-Free Nigeria by the Year 2025", which he explained is still under review and will be targeted for 2030, as another significant step towards achieving a clean, hygienic public space in the country.

Represented by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Mahmud Adam Kambari, the Minister lamented that open defecation, as a result of poor toilet facilities, is contributing significantly to diseases such as malaria, diarrhoea, typhoid and intestinal worm infections, which he said, continues to claim lives, especially among children under the age of five.

He expressed concerns about poor sanitation as it also contributed to antimicrobial resistance, thereby, undermining Nigeria’s progress towards SDG 6.2, ensuring access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all by the year 2030.

He revealed that the Federal Ministry of Environment, in collaboration with the Chief State Officers, has reviewed and validated the 2005 National Environmental Sanitation Policy and its guidelines.

"Sanitation is not a privilege, but a human right," Minister stated while also adding that ending open defecation and achieving safe sanitation for all requires collective action and shared responsibility.

“The Ministry has implemented several initiatives, including: The Clean and Green Program, promoting access to safe and adequate toilets in public places; Construction and rehabilitation of toilets in strategic locations across the country; Community-based interventions aimed at eliminating open defecation; Capacity building for environmental health officers and sanitation officers across the country; National Wash Policy is being developed by the National Stakeholders to address sanitation policy", he concluded.