Buhari Signs Executive Order to end Open Defecation by 2025

President Muhammadu Buhari has signed Executive Order 009, committing Nigeria to ending open defecation by 2025. It was a significant policy moment, a formal government acknowledgement that sanitation is a public health crisis that demands urgent action.

Open defecation remains one of the most direct drivers of preventable disease in Nigeria, particularly among children. It contaminates water sources, spreads diarrhoeal diseases and disproportionately affects the same underserved communities that already bear the heaviest burden of Nigeria's health failures.

An executive order is a start. But orders do not dig toilets, train communities or change behaviour. The real test is whether the funding, infrastructure and community engagement needed to make this order meaningful will follow.

At Citizens Health Initiative Nigeria, we believe that sanitation is inseparable from health equity. You cannot talk about community health without talking about the environment people live in. We will be watching how this commitment translates into action, and advocating for the communities most at risk if it does not.