25th March, 2021
Mr Yinus Akande, the Council Manager, Ayedaade Local Government Area of Osun, said open defecation is now a forbidden act in the area.
Akande on Thursday in Gbongan spoke against the backdrop of a report that residents were still practising open defecation.
He said that the council had put in place, effective awareness campaign against open defecation in the area.
According to him, more than 80 per cent of houses in the local government area have toilet facilities, while the remaining 20 per cent are in the process of completing theirs.
He said the report that most houses in the local government were without toilet facilities was false.
According to him, the council is working towards being declared open defecation free by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and Task Group on Sanitation (NTGS).
Akande also said that UNICEF had provided more than 400 boreholes in the community to enable people to have access to potable water for a cleaner environment.
He said that environmental officers in the local government had always embarked on awareness programmes in the community on the dangers of open defecation.
Also, Mr Ayobami Olaoye, Head of Department, Water and Environmental Sanitation in the local government, said, “It is a taboo for people to engage in open defecation in Gbongan and other communities in the local government.
“My department has arrested and prosecuted people caught engaging in open defecation.
“Most houses in the local government now have toilets, while more than 400 boreholes were sunk around the communities to ensure availability of potable water.” he said.
Olaoye, later took NAN correspondent round the town to see the boreholes and toilets built by most of the houses.
According to him, due to aggressive awareness by the department, people in Gbongan Community now understood that anyone without a toilet or who engaged in open defecation risked prosecution.
Olaoye said that both the old and new houses in the towns have improved and clean toilets to defecate.
He said the local government was also collaborating with the traditional rulers and chiefs in the town on the need for an awareness campaign against open defecation.
Ayedaade LGA is one of the three local government being sponsored by UNICEF to be certified open defecation free.
Ifedayo Local Government, one of the three local governments was certified Open Defecation Free (ODF) by UNICEF and validated by NTGS on Oct. 30, 2019.
The third one, Odo-Otin Local Government is also awaiting certification.