THE Lagos State Government, in collaboration with WaterAid Plan and private operators, is set to build 350 more public toilets across the State to curb widespread open defecation and maintain hygiene and sanitation.
This is just as the State WaterAid team lead gave a projection that by 2028, the organisation will reach 10 million residents directly and another 17 million indirectly through interventions with basic Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) access.
Speaking at a roundtable over the weekend, the Special Adviser on Environment, Engr. Olakunle Rotimi-Akodu said work has started on some of the toilets, including identifying the locations for them.
He stated that the State Government will adopt the three-way approach in tackling the issue of open defecation, which is to put infrastructure in place, engage in massive advocacy and lastly, undertake an enforcement drive to ensure that everyone embraces the use of public toilets.
The Special Adviser expressed appreciation to WaterAid for collaborating with the State Government in its effort to ensure that Lagosians have access to clean water, decent toilets and proper hygiene practices continuously.
He said the Government is aware that the provision of more public toilets would help reduce Government and individual expenditure on the treatment of diseases, thereby making more money available for other economic uses, stressing that the little delay being experienced is to put in place an alternative water supply instead of drilling of boreholes.
He said the Government ordinarily does not support the drilling of boreholes at homes, organisations, or religious homes for so many reasons and is working on providing the right alternative, which is the provision of portable water through the Lagos Water Corporation.
"Borehole drilling is not something we are proud of and it is something we are eager to run away from; Thankfully, We have gone on a working visit with Mr Governor and the media team to Adiyan Waterworks where the State will soon start generating a combined capacity of not less than 100 million gallons of pipe borne water daily; The people can testify to the meaningful efforts of the state, to see that water becomes available to everyone in Lagos State", he said.
The Permanent Secretary of the Office of Drainage Services, Engr. Mahamood Adegbite, noted that it has been observed that most homes/organisations are using the water provided by Lagos State Water Corporation without paying for it, saying this has resulted in the Government bailing out water corporation facilities over the years, but the State would find a way to sustainably engage them.
According to him, “We have the biggest Corporation to supply water, which is why we have various regulatory Agencies that will address the issue of tariff setting. In fact, there have been a lot of applications for people to come in, but the regulatory commission is working on it; I will like to say that provision of potable water by the Government has never been for profit making ".
He mentioned that residents must know that the provision of pipe-borne water is never going to be free going forward, adding that the Government does not expect private organisations/individuals to invest in water supply and residents get it for free; hence, conversations are still going on as regards the tariff setting.
"It is a major project that we have invited partners to also invest in; you can imagine our partners investing around 800 Million Naira, you must know that the State is also spending billions of Naira," he said
He said regarding access issues that there has been a lot of free access to water supply, saying this is one of the issues Water Corporation encounters because people deliberately find it comfortable tapping potable water here and there because they don't want to pay, and this is an illegal act that affects the Corporation negatively.
Also speaking, the Permanent Secretary Office of Environmental Services, Gaji Omobolaji, said the Government is working to provide water for the entire State and not just a particular region, noting that this is the reason massive rehabilitation is ongoing in all the major waterworks, mini Water Works, as well as the micro water works in the state.
He expressed confidence that before the end of this administration, the Government would be able to provide hundreds of millions of gallons per day, saying that it would still not be enough but would go a long way in providing access to water.
He mentioned that the Government is working tirelessly to ensure that it puts in place the necessary infrastructure with modern facilities that will be beneficial to the people.
Earlier, in his presentation, the State Programme Lead, WaterAid Lagos Office, Dr Adebayo Alao, said WaterAid had contributed towards developing models and strengthening institutional capacities for enhanced sector governance and performance while working with other key sectors to integrate water, sanitation and hygiene into their development plans and priorities.
He mentioned that Kimberly Clark donated 1 million USD from July 2021 to March 2025 to target 45,000 lactating women, adolescent girls and other persons to improve hygiene behaviours among vulnerable populations, adding that the project locations were Ojodu under Ikeja and Ikorodu North Local Council Development Areas of Lagos state.
He stressed that one of the key achievements was the renovation of two Primary Health Centres with functional water supply and sanitation facilities, as well as the procurement of medical equipment worth over 30 million supplied to the PHCs located in Ogba and Odo-nla in Epe
He added that other achievements by WaterAid include the approval to review the WASH Policy of Lagos State, as well as the technical assessment of several dysfunctional water works to support an increase in urban water supply, which led to the ongoing rehabilitation of the Akilo Water Works.