No Few Than 179mln Nigerians Live in Unclean Environment
The report, the 7th in the series signed by Ene Owoh, national coordinator of Clean-Up Nigeria (CUN), a non governmental organization, represents an improvement compared to 183 million recorded in 2023.
It highlights a slight improvement in reduction of open defecation, which dropped from 24% in 2023 to 20% in 2024, while highlighting a decline in waste recycling efforts, which fell from 26% in 2023 to 19% in 2024, attributing the drop to rising poverty levels.
He lamented however that “Nigeria’s sanitation situation is a mixed bag,” emphasizing the importance of environmental cleanliness and sustainable waste management.
The findings also revealed that only seven states demonstrated good personal hygiene and sanitation practices among their citizens, underscoring the need for broader improvements in environmental and public health efforts.
Owoh announced that the annual Cleanliness Performance Index ranked Akwa Ibom and Abuja as the cleanest states in Nigeria, demonstrating their commitment to environmental sustainability.
According to Owoh, who is also the Secretary of the National Technical Study Group (NTSG), the zonal emphasis fosters regional integration, making the competition more relevant to local environments.
The cleanliness index rating, he says, aims to address specific challenges in each state and drive positive changes for a cleaner and more sustainable Nigeria.
He also announced the six zonal cleanest state champions for 2024, as recognized by the Cleanliness Performance Index chaired by Prof. Solomon Balogun, Chairman of the STONE NTSG.
They are Akwa Ibom in South-South, Enugu in South-East, Lagos in South-West. Others are Plateau for North-Central, Borno for North-East and Kaduna in the North-West.
The zonal rating were backed by six years of effective data collection and analysis: 2018–2023.