Photo: Akinbuli Oluwatobiloba/Vanguard

A man defecates in a canal in Lagos State, Nigerian.

Thirty three million Nigerians defecate in the open, depositing about 1.7 million tons of faeces into the environment annually, a UNICEF estimate has shown.

Chairman, Environmental Health Officers Registration Council of Nigeria (EHORECON), HRH. Alhaji Yunusa Muhammadu Danyaya, Emir of Ningi, made the declaration when he led a delegation on a courtesy visit to government house, Kano.

He said the direct consequence of this was high morbidity and mortality rates due to sanitation related diseases such as cholera, diarrhea, dysentery and typhoid. Children under five were most vulnerable to the effects of poor sanitation and hygiene in the Country".

Alhaji (Dr.) Yunusa Muhammadu Danyaya thanked the Governor for making them to be part of the epoch making event of the launching of the monthly Environmental Sanitation Programme and the re-invigoration of sanitary inspection of premises programme.

The Chairman of the Council used the opportunity to inform the Governor Kwankwaso that the status of the sanitary inspector otherwise known as Environmental Health Officers of today had changed for good as many Universities in the Country now offer B.Sc and Post Graduate degree Courses in Environmental Health.