Residents of Kogi and Niger states practice open defecation more than other people in Nigeria, the latest Multiple Indication Cluster Surveys (MICS) report shows.
According to the report, more than half of residents in the two states (53 per cent for Kogi and 52 per cent for Niger) defecate in open places.
Kogi has been leading the chart since 2019.
The ICIR reports that the practice is minimal in Zamfara and Lagos states, according to a report of the latest MICS released to journalists on Tuesday in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
The United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) and the Child’s Right Information Bureau (CRIB) of the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture released the 2021 MICS report at a two-day media dialogue.
Lagos and Zamfara states have only three and two per cent of their residents doing open defecation.
The report shows a cumulative increase in open defecation in Nigeria within the period under study.
One in five persons (22 per cent) practices open defecation, an increase of two per cent from 2017, when the last MICS was conducted.
The United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) initiated MICS as an in-country programme in the mid-’90s. It is conducted in many countries.
Since its inception, MICS has become the largest source of statistically sound and internationally comparable data on children and women worldwide.
The Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS) coordinates the survey in Nigeria, with funding and technical support from UNICEF, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, GAVI and the Nigerian government.
Credit: ICIR
