The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has commended the Bauchi state government on its Faecal Sludge Management (FSM) drive in the state.
Dr Nuzhat Rafique, UNICEF’s Chief of Bauchi Field Office, made the commendation in Bauchi on Wednesday during a one-day exchange visit agenda for the Faecal Sludge Management strategy implementations in the state.
According to her, Bauchi state is the first state in the country to have the guideline for Faecal Sludge Management.
Rafique, who was represented by Mrs Nanbam Dawap, UNICEF Water Sanitation and Hygiene Officer, Bauchi, said “for the past years, we have been asking people to have and use toilets.
“The aim of having and using a toilet is because we want the environment to be open defecation free.
“Even when the toilets are filled up, we will have to manage them through the sanitation chain from the collection, transportation, storing and the recycling.
“I want to congratulate Bauchi state in a very special way for being the first state to have the guideline for Faecal sludge management in Nigeria”.
The UNICEF boss also congratulated the Plateau and Gombe states government for sending representatives to come for the exchange visit and study what the Bauchi state government has been doing in this regard.
This, she said, would allow them to put the same effort in place back in their respective states and urged all the participants to pay attention and take the story back to their various communities.
Also speaking, Mr Danlami Kawule, the Bauchi state Commissioner for Housing and Environment, lauded UNICEF, WaterAid Nigeria and other donor partners for the technical support they have been providing to the state.
He said that the support has made Bauchi state to be among the leading states working toward the actualisation of a Safely Managed Sanitation in the country.
“I'm sure you will all agree with me that faecal sludge management has been very poor in most of our States.
“But the story is now changing in Bauchi state due to the collective efforts of all the stakeholders that are present here. Well done to all of us.
“The Bauchi State Environmental Protection Agency as a regulating Agency under the Ministry of Environment is doing a good work by formalising all the key actors along the faecal sludge value chain in the State,” he said.
In his remarks, Mr Habibu Mohammed, the General Manager, Bauchi State Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency (RUWASSA), stated that the essence of exchange study could not be overemphasised in achieving set objectives.
Mohammed recounted how the Agency visited Plateau State RUWASSA some years ago to understudy the function of WASH directorate before the state established its own.
He expressed optimism that partnership, collaboration and understudy are key indicators of development and growth in all sectors.
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