Reckitt Nigeria has renewed its Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with The Federal Ministry of Water Resources on the Clean Naija Initiative to achieve a cleaner and healthier Nigeria.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, General Manager, Reckitt Sub-Saharan Africa, Akbar Ali Shah, said: “Reports place Nigeria among the top nations that bear a significant portion of the global disease burden and high under-5 mortality rates, and recent reports have estimated that 46 million Nigerians still defecate in the open.
“Many of these diseases such as diarrhoea can be preventable by practicing proper hand washing habits and wide-scale hygiene education. We are elated to renew the partnership with the Federal Ministry of Water Resources on the Clean Naija Initiative, and this is a confirmation of the initiative’s success in the last three years.”
Speaking on the successes of the initiative, Shah informed that through its Dettol brand, “Reckitt Nigeria has initiated hygiene educational programmes committed to tackling some of these issues. They include the School Hygiene and New Mum’s Program, through which the brand has educated millions of children, and mothers on proper hand hygiene habits.”
He continued: “We also evolved our school hygiene programme with the introduction of a structured hygiene curriculum called ‘The Hygiene Quest’. The curriculum aims to educate children aged between 6-8 years about hygiene and change behaviours. It comprises a range of modules that use comics, mini-games, physical worksheets, and activities to deliver learning.
The curriculum was piloted in public schools in all 20 LGAs within Lagos State, and our impact end-line assessment showed a 34% increase in knowledge of proper hand washing and a 7% reduction in diarrhoea amongst the participants after the intervention. We intend to extend this curriculum to other states when the school year resumes in September 2022.”
We have high expectations that this partnership will continue to contribute significantly to improving sanitation and hygiene services, behaviour and practices in Nigeria with the attendant benefits on health, productivity, education, and economy, among other benefits.
Access to water
In his remarks, the Minister of Water Resources, Suleiman Hussein Adamu, said: “The report of the 2022 WASHNORM survey indicated that we still have a lot to do towards meeting the Sustainable Development Goal for Water and Sanitation, with access to basic water, sanitation and hygiene services estimated as 67%, 46%, and 17% respectively as at 2021.
“We will continue to drive the enabling environment for private sector players to contribute and invest across the water, sanitation, and hygiene value chain which can make significant contributions to the nation’s economic indices. We welcome Reckitt and other private sector organisations as a veritable partner in this journey.”
In her welcome address, the Permanent Secretary, Mrs. Didi Walson-Jack, explained that the MoU signing is a demonstration of the Ministry’s continued commitment to improved sanitation in Nigeria.
“We have high expectations that this partnership will continue to contribute significantly to improving sanitation and hygiene services, behaviour and practices in Nigeria with the attendant benefits on health, productivity, education, and economy, among other benefits,” she added.
The Clean Naija Initiative was established by Reckitt Nigeria in 2019 as an integrated multi-level campaign to create awareness, educate, and drive behavioural change to achieve a cleaner and healthier Nigeria.
Its objectives are to reduce diarrhoea-related child mortality in Nigeria in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of 2030, to reduce and end the open defecation menace, and to reduce malaria related deaths in Nigeria.
