54 per cent Nigerian households have pit latrines

By Everest Amaefule Sunday, 24 Jul 2011 http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art2011072416282942 Pit latrines account for 54 per cent of the toilets deployed by Nigerian households in 2008, the National Bureau of Statistics http://www.nigerianstat.gov.ng/ has said. The agency in its Annual Abstract of Statistics, 2009, which has just been released also disclosed that 66.3 per cent of Nigerian households lived in a single room as at 2008. According to the agency, while 38.3 per cent of the households have covered pit latrines, 15.7 per cent households have pit latrines that are not covered. To show that the culture of pail toilet is dying in the country, only 0.1 per cent of households used the facility in 2008, down from the 0.2 per cent that deployed the toilet facility in 2007. Households that pass their wastes in the water accounted for 3.7 per cent; down from the four per cent recorded in 2007. A total of 8.8 per cent households did not have any toilet facility as against 8.6 per cent recorded in 2007. The number of households that have VIP latrine accounted for 0.6 per cent while unidentified facilities accounted for 17.6 per cent. On state basis, Imo State accounted for the highest number of households with covered pit latrines at 78.5 per cent. A total of 8.7 per cent households in the state have toilets that flush to the septic tanks and 3.9 per cent have households that flush to sewage. Bayelsa State, on the other hand, accounted for the highest percentage of households that have toilet facilities in the water. This is followed by Rivers State with 30 per cent of households. Delta State has 20 per cent of households that use toilet facilities in the waters. Lagos State at 45 per cent has the highest percentage of households with toilets that flush to the septic tanks. This is followed by Enugu State at 29 per cent, Rivers at 28.3 per cent, Abia 23.1 per cent and Anambra 18.6 per cent. The percentage of households without any toilet facility was higher in Oyo State. A total of 53.3 per cent of households in the state do not have any toilet facility. Benue with 38.8 per cent ranks second in terms of households without any toilet facility. Plateau, Ekiti, Kwara and Niger follow simultaneously with 31.7 per cent, 31.3 per cent, 34.8 per cent and 14.7 per cent respectively. Classifying the housing units lived by Nigerians within the year, NBS disclosed that 66.3 per cent of households lived in single rooms. A total of 27.2 per cent of the households lived in whole buildings. While 5.8 per cent of the households lived in flats, 0.3 per cent lived in duplexes. A total of 0.4 per cent lived in unclassified accommodation. Categorising the housing units by states, Bauchi topped the list of states with 98.6 per cent of its households living in single room. Kebbi, Katsina, Borno, Yobe, Taraba, Ogun and Adamawa followed with 97.5 per cent, 94.7 per cent, 92.8 per cent, 92.2 per cent, 91.7 per cent, 86.8 per cent and 83.3 per cent respectively. For households living in flats, Lagos State topped the list with 26.4 per cent. The Federal Capital Territory, Bayelsa Sate, Jigawa, Oyo and Delta followed simultaneously with 17.8 per cent, 14.5 per cent, 9.3 per cent, 8.9 per cent and 8.7 per cent respectively. Imo State topped the list of households living in whole buildings with 81.8 per cent. The state was followed by Ebonyi, 73.5 per cent; Zamfara, 72.9 per cent; Anambra, 64.5 per cent, Jigawa, 59 per cent and Abia, 57 per cent. Kaduna, Lagos and Kebbi States occupy the bottom rung of the ladder for states whose households live in whole buildings with 1.3 per cent, 1.4 per cent and 1.8 per cent respectively.