The African Human Development Center, a Civil Society Organization sponsored by the United States Agency for International Development, has made an appeal to the Akwa Ibom State Government to approve the framework for water and sanitation hygiene policies, implement water laws, and open defecation policies.

The implementation of the Water Law, approval of a Policy framework, and achievement of an Open Defecation Free Roadmap would be highly significant for the sustainable development of Akwa Ibom State, according to a press statement released on Tuesday by Prof. Gabriel Umoh, CEO of the African Human Development Center, and made available to journalists in Uyo.

According to Umoh, the adoption of the WASH Framework could result in more environmentally friendly advancement, better living conditions, and a healthier living environment for Akwa Ibom State citizens.

The CEO called on the state government officials and the state governor, Pastor Umo Eno, to implement Executive Order 009 of the federal government, which required all areas of the nation to be free of open defecation by 2025, in order to carry out their campaign.

“We are here to support the Akwa Ibom state government to reform the WASH sector. Water and Sanitation Hygiene have numerous impacts on all facets of life, including health, education, agriculture, etc. The United States Agency for International Development has provided the content for us to work to reform the WASH sector in the state.

“So we started the practical implementation of the project in February 2002, our objective is to create awareness about the Water and sanitation hygiene situation of Akwa Ibom state, push for development and approval of WASH policy M&E framework by state executive council, and also get the council to approve the ODF Roadmap because we can’t continue to work without accessing our selves to know if we are doing well on the nature of our intervention.

“Recall that the former President of Nigeria His Excellency Muhammadu Buhari had in 2019 signed into law Executive Order 009, mandating all sectors in Nigeria to be open defecation free by 2025, so one of our objectives is to ensure that Akwa Ibom is open defecation free Roadmap by 2025 which is a nine months timeline from now.

“We urge the Ministry of Water Resources and other ministries related to the WASH activities and MDAs like Akwa Ibom Water Company Ltd, AKRUWATSAN, Ministry of Land, Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Education etc to join hands to ensure we achieve this goal.

“Recall that the immediate past state governor, Mr. Udom Emmanuel, had passed the water bill into Law on 30th December 2022, so all we are seeking is implementation of the law to be approved by the state council.

“Akwa Ibom State WASH Monitoring and Evaluation Framework, the State ODF Roadmap are necessary supporting documents to give effect to the Implementation of the Water Law.

“And the approval of these important documents is crucial and we want to use this opportunity to call on the Akwa Ibom State Executive Council to give approval to these documents without further delay.

“We hope that the state Ministry of Water Resources and Sanitation will give sufficient push to get the State Executive to approve the documents.”