Adamawa residents vow to sustain open defecation free communities

Adamawa residents vow to sustain open defecation free communities 

From Umar Dankano, Yola 

The residents of wadata and wuro-do in libbo ward of Shelleng local government area in Adamawa state have expressed commitment to take total control Accelerated sanitation and water for all (ASWA lll) project in their communities.

Coordinator of the Water Sanitation and hygiene Committee (WASHCOM) in Shelleng,Gideon Emmanuel dropped the hint while hosting a team of Unicef officials and journalists who were in the communities for on the spot assignment tour for the implementation of the WASH programme.

Emmanuel said that, community led total sanitation,CLTS plus plus approach has been triggered in 383 communities with 143 so far captured stressing that four (4) wards were selected  out of the 10 wards as pilot catchment areas for implementing the project.

While applauding the intervention from the Unicef and government of the Netherlands for the project,Emmanuel announced that,the people in their communities have changed excellently towards open defecation practices noting that building of climate reliant toilets and access to clean water have made significant impact on their lives.

He confirmed that water sanitation and hygiene Committees were formed in four wards including Libbo,Gudun,Jubin and Banta respectively.

In their separate remarks during the visit, WASHCOM members in wadata and wuro-do communities,Shuaibu Yusuf and Ibrahim iyal attested that 77% of the people in their localities have constructed climate reliant toilets and have dug wells for clean drinking water.

They confessed that before the formation of the WASHCOM,most of their family members do answer the call of nature(Open defication) in the open but were quick to say that their communities are ODF (Open defication free) now registering their appreciation to Unicef and its partners.

Advancing the commitment of the state government for sustainability of the project, Aisha Yusuf, the ASWA lll  Desk officer, head of Sanitation higiene and RUWASSA said that series of capacity building trainings have been conducted to 44 WASHCOM membership in the two local government areas for replication of the program in various communities.

Yusuf added that the concept of using community members to be part of handling the project was deliberate in ensuring grooming them to take full control in the event the partners left so that continuity can be maintained.

She stated that,150,000 vulnerable people have been targeted through public private partnership in Shelleng and Ganye councils in the state.

Earlier in an interview with journalists in Yola, the Chief of field office, Unicef Bauchi office, Dr.Nuzhat Rafique described the intervention as ‘a generosity project funded by the government of Netherlands which is being implemented by Unicef in partnership with the Adamawa state government.

She therefore called on the state government to ensure sustainability for a total community behaviour change or change the traditional mind sets of the people so that their communities can become open defecation free (ODF).

“This is basically to make two local government areas of Ganye and Shelleng to be Open defication free, ODF”. Rafique declared.