Enlightenment activities on hygiene have been carried out in a total of 20 schools, 24 communities, and 12 healthcare facilities in Kwara State in the first quarter of 2024 by the Well-Being Foundation Africa (WBFA).
WBFA is a global nonprofit organisation concerned with the growth of the education, environment, and health sectors.
Speaking during a stakeholders’ meeting organised by the WBFA in partnership with Reckitt-Dettol to assess the foundation’s Hygiene Quest activities in the first quarter of the year, the WBFA Programme Director, Dr Francis Ogbise, said that some selected students and teachers would also be trained on how to establish Hygiene Clubs in schools to ensure continuity of the enlightenment programme.
Represented by the WBFA Programme Lead, Mr Kehinde Akinsola, Ogbise said that the foundation aimed to improve health outcomes for women, children, and infants from birth to age.
He said the programme was a scorecard of its activities in the first quarter of the year, which is the beginning of Phase 2 of the Hygiene Quest programme.
In his overview of the programme, the programme lead said that the Hygiene Quest Programme, which is in its second phase, will run from 2024 to 2026 and will involve 300 schools.
The event afforded stakeholders in the education, environment, and health sectors a way forward to achieve good hygiene in schools, communities, and health centres in Kwara State.
”Safe Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) is not only a prerequisite to generational health but a catalyst for resilient, peaceful, and prosperous communities,” he said.
The Territory Sales Manager, Reckitt-Dettol, Kwara State, Mr Musa Nurudeen, said that the company was in partnership with WBFA because their vision aligns with the foundations.
”Women and children that are more vulnerable need to be enlightened on hygiene and germs for them to know how to protect themselves.
”By having programmes like this, we want everyone to know that well-being and wellness are not a privilege but a right,” Mr Nurudeen said.
Mr Muhammad Nasir, from the Ministry of Water Resources, while commending the initiative, said the foundation should extend its outreach to out-of-school children and pregnant women who do not attend antenatal care to yield the needed impact.
The Director, Nursing Services, Okelele Primary Health Care Centre, Mrs Motunrayo Yahaya, said that with the introduction of the programme’s first phase in 2022, there has been a reduction in cases of diarrhoea and vomiting, which has reduced maternal mortality.
Mrs Yahaya also called for the provision of hand washing stations in schools so as to embed the principles of proper hygiene in the students, and she also agitated for the construction of public toilets across the state.
The Deputy Director, Ministry of Education and Human Capital Development, Mr. Taiye Odedeji, commended the foundation for working on SDGs 3 and 4, which are Good Health and Well-Being and Quality Education, respectively.
Mr Odedeji, however, advised that teachers should also be included in the programme because it would be easier for them to lead by example for the students.
Chairman, National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPSS), Dr Temitope Ajibola, said that the foundation should collaborate with other non-governmental organisations to make a greater impact in schools, communities, and health centres.
Dr. Ajibola, who was represented by Mr. Julius Balogun, said that through collaboration, the foundation would reach more schools, communities, and health centres than it has outlined.
The Emir of Ilorin, Alhaji Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari, said that apart from engaging students in schools, efforts should be made to involve more community members in their programmes to ensure sustainability.
The Emir represented by Mogaji Odota, Alhaji Muhammed Okanlawon, said the few people already taught in his community were already making impacts by passing the message down to others.
Oniganmo of Ganmo, Alhaji Kamaludeen Jimoh, represented by Abdulganiy Okoh, said more efforts should also be directed toward keeping the environment clean and for erring citizens to be punished.
Oniganmo advised the foundation to also establish hygiene clubs and groups within the community for continuity’s sake and to also serve as a check for the clubs in schools even when the school no longer wants to continue having them.
The HOD of the WASH department at Kwara Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency (RUWASSA), Mr Olalekan Rufai, advised all the stakeholders to embrace the community-led total sanitation approach to ensure that the community takes ownership and implements community-driven sanitation and hygiene practices.
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