By Seyi Babalola
The Federal Government has asked Nigerians to practice proper personal and environmental cleanliness in order to prevent cholera from spreading throughout the country.
Mahmud Kambari, Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Environment, stated this on Saturday at an event commemorating 2024 National Environmental Sanitation Day in Piwoyi, a suburb community in the Federal Capital Territory.
The National Environmental Sanitation Day is observed on June 28 each year to raise awareness of the importance of personal and environmental hygiene among Nigerians.
Kambari, who was represented by the ministry’s Director of Pollution Control and Environmental Health, Olubunmi Olusanya, stated that the goal is to raise awareness among Nigerians about the importance of sanitation practices in controlling and preventing communicable diseases.
He said, “Currently in the country, we are faced with the challenge of a cholera outbreak as you all know is caused by bacteria infection, which is spread through contaminated water or food as a result of unhygienic practices.
“For us to stop this, we need to imbibe good environmental sanitation practices, for example, open defecation is one of the primary causes of cholera.”
He stated that the government will continue to partner with the community to ensure that the community is adequately clean.
