By CrossRiverWatch Admin
In a bid to revive the Open Defecation Free (ODF) status of Yala Local Government Area, the Society for Water and Sanitation, NEWSAN with support from Self Help Africa, SHA have inaugurated the Local Task Group LTG on Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene, WASH.
The Yala Local Government Council, alongside Ikom, were declared ODF in 2018 by the Nigerian Government. However, research published in 2024 suggests that achieving a state-wide ODF status is hampered by so many reasons, including truck drivers who regularly defecate in the bush.
READ: 500,000 Cross Riverians Safer As FG Declares Ikom, Yala Open Defecation Free
This was echoed by the Chairman of the Yala Local Government Council, Dr. Fred Okem in his keynote address where he lamented the impact of open defecation and the challenge faced therein.
“It is a welcomed opportunity. We all know our problem in Yala, we don’t have water. We go to the bush to defecate, it is not a good practice, we should avoid it,” online news outlet, TheInvestigator quotes him as saying.
“You know what we mean by task force, we are the foot soldiers, we are the educators. All of us should put our hands together to ensure this program succeeds,” the report also quotes him as saying.
Dr. Augustina Okem is the Chairperson of the Yala LTG WASH. She told those gathered at the Council Headquarters in Okpoma, venue of the activity, that she is grateful to lead the group. “We will dully carry our duties out. We will achieve the set goals,” she pledged.
Earlier, the Chariman of the State Task Group on WASH, Mr. Okon Ita who is the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Water Resources, charged the group to diligently carry out their duties.
The STG-WASH Chairman, represented by Engr Elemi Nkanu, a Director in the Ministry of Water Resources, asserted that “The task group will be responsible for harmonizing all WASH initiatives in the Local Government Area.”
He beckoned on all and sundry to support the LTG-WASH to ensure that Yala local government is once again ODF. “The need to revive the sector cannot be overemphasized,” the Chairman reiterated.
Prepping the Yala LTG-WASH, the National Coordinator of NEWSAN, Mr. Attah Benson, said, “If you eat, you must defecate; therefore, we need to keep our toilets and environment clean. This meeting is to strengthen and change the way we do things.”
Charging the Yala Local Government Council Chairman, he asked that the “Chairman try to make sure the LTG-WASH works. We need a good system that functions. The government has a lot of roles to play.”