By Mustapha Suleiman
A Non-Governmental Organisation: Community Emergency Response Initiative (CERI), has enjoined politicians intending to contest at the forthcoming 2023 general elections at all levels to either prioritise water and sanitation or loss popular support.
CERI’s Executive Director, Mr. Benson Attah, who made the disclosure in Abuja, said, CERI is concluding arrangement at ensuring that communities across the country are well developed and well taken care of through provision of clean water and sanitation.
He said: “We are advocating that governments at all levels and stakeholders must ensure that water and sanitation is regraded and prioritised to the citizens.
He stressed that water and sanitation is regarded as human rights which must be prioritised by government at all levels.
“Community Emergency Response Initiative (CERI) also happened to be a member of End Water Poverty EWP) which is an international platform, comprising different civil society organisations that are also advocating for various governments and stakeholders to ensure that water and sanitation is regraded or prioritised to the citizens and also regarded as their human rights. And to ensure that, they create awareness among the citizens to know that water and sanitation is their right as citizens and that they don’t need to beg for it.
“Attah said that any government providing health and sanitation is not doing the people any favour as he is only carrying out the duties expected of the office he is occupying.
He said: “Anybody providing water for any community and expected him to be applauded is just wasting his time or misleading the people. Because, in the first place, it is the right of the people as citizens to have access to good and a safety water and sanitation wherever they are.’’
The CERI Executive Director, noted that water and sanitation are parts of human rights having the same status as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, saying that government at all levels should ensure that they make water accessible to the citizens without minding whoever they are and wherever they live without, any discrimination.
Attah, further warned politicians not to use water provision as a mere political campaign slogan, saying “So, it should not be used6 as a campaign strategy because anybody that is doing that now will only be misleading and deceiving the citizens because they don’t know that it is their right to be provided with access to safe water and sanitation.’’ He said that water and sanitation provision should not be used as campaign promises by politicians, they should know that it’s something they have the duty to provide for the citizens as long as they occupy such political offices.
“Once you decide to run for an office, you should be prepared to do the needful and if you are not ready to provide the water and sanitation which is essential service to the growth, development and wellbeing of the people while in that office then leave the office for those who are ready and know what it means to govern people or don’t vie for it in the first place.
And don’t expect you are doing the people any favour, they don’t have to beg for water and sanitation which is their basic fundamental human rights, adding: whoever, is ready to do the right thing, water and sanitation should top his agenda and to be implemented in every community in a robust way because that is the source of most of the common ailments.
“We are not saying that government should provide sanitation facilities for individual homes, because sanitation at home is private and personal thing but government should provide toilet facilities in all public institutions and places such as, schools, parks, markets places, transit stations and also provide the means for the appropriate institutions to carry out community mobilisation, sensitisation and awareness creation as well as monitor community compliance and behaviour change.
“And, even if people have to pay for it, it must be available, accessible and reliable. That’s the issue of water and sanitation campaign now and that is the message we are carrying to communities across the country.’’
