The African Development Bank (ADB) has said it will finance Nigeria 9.5 billion naira (about 75 million U.S. dollars) on water and sanitation project in 2007.

Speaking at the 10th Anniversary of the Water Aid Nigeria Celebration on Monday, Sameh Wasseh, ADB water and sanitation officer, said the project was expected to begin in the first quarter of 2007.

"The project will be in collaboration with the Nigerian government to tackle problems of water supply and sanitation across the country," Wasseh said.

He decried the continued neglect of the sanitation sector by various African governments, thus denying more than 300 million Africans access to sanitation facilities.

He expressed the hope that the intervention funds would greatly help in addressing the problem of lack of access to sanitary facilities. Wasseh also urged African leaders to pay more attention to the sanitation needs of their people remembering the importance of sanitation to their health.

According to Jonathan Burton, country representative of WaterAid in Nigeria, more than 5,000 persons died every day from water-borne diseases worldwide.

He said the situation arose from the lack of access to sanitary facilities by more than two billion people, with people defecating in the open.

He blamed lack of political will by world leaders to tackling the sanitation needs of their people, especially in the developing countries.

Source: Xinhua