Zaharaddeen Ishaq Abubakar | Katsina Times, Wednesday, August 27, 2025
The Executive Chairman of Katsina Local Government, Hon. Isah Miqdad AD Saude, has flagged off a two-week sensitisation and environmental sanitation campaign aimed at eradicating open defecation within Katsina metropolis.
Speaking at a press briefing in his office at Shehu Musa Yar’adua House along Nagogo Road, the Chairman said the initiative would involve awareness campaigns, training, and sanitation exercises across all 290 communities under the council.
“Our goal is to clean up every site where open defecation takes place—whether in bushes, marketplaces, or public spaces—restore them, and ensure a hygienic environment,” he stated, noting that the success of the exercise would qualify the local government for Open Defecation Free (ODF) certification from UNICEF and other relevant bodies.
Hon. Saude disclosed that over 100 sanitation workers had been deployed to carry out the operation across different neighbourhoods. He admitted that Katsina Local Government remains one of the worst affected areas in the state due to its large population and size.
He warned that open defecation poses serious health risks such as cholera, typhoid, and diarrhoea, and causes Nigeria an annual economic loss estimated at 1.3 percent of its GDP.
Beyond clean-up exercises, the Chairman stressed that the ODF campaign is about changing public behaviour. “Every household must build a toilet, people must wash their hands with soap and water, and hygiene must be a foundation of public health,” he emphasised.
He appealed to religious leaders, traditional rulers, civil society organisations, and youth groups to support the initiative by spreading the message in their communities. “The voices of clerics from mosques and traditional rulers are the most effective in changing attitudes,” he added.
Hon. Saude also commended UNICEF, the World Bank, the Katsina State Environmental Protection Agency, and the Katsina State Government for their continued support in improving sanitation and water supply.
He stressed that attaining ODF certification is not the end but the beginning of a broader vision to make Katsina one of the cleanest and healthiest local governments in Nigeria.
“Our target is for every household to have a decent toilet, every market and school to be kept clean, and for every child to grow up in a safe and healthy environment free from preventable diseases,” he said, urging the media to help amplify the campaign across all platforms.
