Environment
Community Hails NGO’s Sanitation Programmes
Kuyizhi Community in Kuje Area Council of FCT has commended the efforts of the African Centre for Leadership, Strategy and Development (Centre LSD) in its advocacy and sanitation campaign in the area.
A cross section of members of the community who spoke to the Press on Thursday in Kuje, said they had experienced a new lease of life since the intervention of the group in their area.
A resident of the area, Mrs Martha Ilimiya, told newsmen that the advocacy campaigns had emboldened the people to task their leaders to provide social amenities for them.
“The campaigns have taught us how to approach our leaders, councillors, chairmen of our communities to meet our needs for good roads, hospitals and water facilities.
“We have gained more knowledge on how to demand for our rights for the provision of social amenities from them.
“We can now also hold our political leaders to be accountable to their electioneering promises,’’ she said.
Ilimiya expressed satisfaction that the group’s sanitation initiative had reduced open defecation and its adverse effects in the community.
“Since their intervention in our community, open defecation is gradually fading out, and we are building our toilets now,’’ she said.
Speaking along the same vein, Mrs Rebecca Ayuba, a farmer, said that the introduction of hand washing by the centre had being of immense benefit to the community.
“We have stopped open defecation and have imbibed the habit of washing our hands especially after using the toilet and before eating and preparing our meals.
“Diseases like cholera and dysentery that occur as a result of open defecation and not washing our hands have been reduced in our community.
“The centre has opened our eyes to see the light and life in a different way and we are grateful,’’ Ayuba said.
Also speaking, Mr Victor Markus said the sensitisation campaigns gave them the opportunity to manage the waste generated in the community.
“We use to litter our environment with solid waste, but now, we sweep, gather and burn them and we can now proudly invite guests to Kuyizhi because our community is very clean,’’ he said.
The Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Committee (WASHCOM) chairman, Mr Ayuba Tanko said 30 out of a 100 households in the community had built their toilets.
He said: “We will mobilise our community through songs and rallies to stop open defecation.”
On his part, Mr Monday Osasah, Project Coordinator, Centre LSD, commended the community for being receptive and for quickly adopting the centre’s sanitation initiatives.
He tasked households that had yet to complete their toilets to do so on time in order to curb the spread of water borne diseases.
He expressed the hope that with the level of commitment shown by the people of the community, they would celebrate their open defecation free status by January 2012.
It is on record that the Centre LSD began its intervention and advocacy campaign in the Kuyizhi Community in September with support from the Canadian International Development Agency.
President, Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), Mrs Margaret Oguntala, has inaugurated the construction of 18 units residential terrace in highbrow Alausa area of Lagos toward bridging the nation’s shelter gap.
Ministry of Water Resources and Sanitation has launched the 1GOV Enterprise Content Management System (ECMS) to enhance digital governance and improve service delivery.
The launch, held on Thursday in Abuja, marks the ministry’s transition from paper-based operations to a smart, integrated and technology-driven work environment.
The Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, Prof. Joseph Utsev, said the deployment aligns with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu.
Utsev said the system would improve data management, streamline workflows and strengthen transparency and accountability across the ministry.
According to him, the ECMS will enhance productivity, preserve institutional memory and reduce operational costs in the ministry.
Launching the platform, the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs Didi Walson-Jack, said the initiative is a major step in public sector reform.
She said the ministry’s mandate affects Nigerians through water supply, sanitation, irrigation, river basin development and climate resilience programmes.
Walson-Jack said the 1GOV ECMS enables secure digital records management, automated workflows, electronic approvals and real-time collaboration across MDAs.
She added that the deployment aligns with the Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan 2021–2025 and the directive for full digitalisation by December 2025.
“Effective governance cannot afford delays caused by manual bottlenecks or avoidable inefficiencies,” she said.
She directed that all official correspondence in the ministry must henceforth be processed through approved digital registry channels.
In her remarks, the Permanent Secretary, Dr Emanso Umobong, said the system would eliminate workflow inefficiencies and improve service delivery.
She urged staff to fully adopt the platform and engage in continuous capacity building.
Research shows that local communities and citizens living at the grassroots, particularly women, are directly impacted by the environmental degradation, flooding and others that result from these manifestations.
In the light of this, non-governmental organisation, Ese Usamali Foundation For Rural Development (EUFORDe), has held a forum for women and other members of oil impacted communities, tagged: ‘Voices from the Grassroots,’ and aimed at building their resilience and mitigation efforts against climate change and environmental degradation
The forum, with the theme: ‘Building Resilience for Oil Spill Impacted Ahoada Communities,’ organised with support from Global Green Grants, was held in Ahoada Community, Ahoada East Local Government Area of Rivers State, on December 5, 2025.
Executive Director of Ese Usamali Foundation For Rural Development, Mercy Elemchukwu-James, said women are at the forefront of efforts to mitigate the impact of climate change and environmental degradation.
The event, therefore, was “designed for community women impacted by oil spills, flooding and other environmental degradation,” she said.
Community women were enlightened by resource persons on new opportunities for sustainable agricultural practices and water management techniques that cushion the impact of oil spills.
Lectures were also delivered on Self-care and Trauma-care, with focus on physical and mental health of the population, and increasing access to health-related resources and services; as well as on Food security and women’s critical role in decision making in oil spill and flood situations in communities
Elemchukwu-James pointed out that the event created a forum for stakeholders, civil society actors and others to dialogue on measures at advancing inclusive and sustainable livelihoods of community women.
She stressed the need for collaborative efforts towards achieving mitigation efforts, while underscoring EUFORDe’s commitment to “fostering partnerships as a critical driver for achieving a healthy community and sustainable development.”
Elemchukwu-James described participants’ design of ‘Community Resilience Plan,’ to manage and combat environmental degradation and crises, as part of achievements recorded at the event.
The forum also witnessed the launching of EUFORDs’ Center For Resilience and Rights.
“This center is established to build resilience as Trauma-Care for victims of environmental degradation, support for survivors of Gender Based Violence (GBV) and a platform where victims of environmental injustice and other GBV cases can seek redress,” Elemchukwu-James said.
Participants celebrated the milestones achieved and charted a path toward greater impact in the coming years. They also described the event as “an inspiring and transformative experience.”
Elemchukwu-James said the awareness creation workshop “reaffirms EUFORDe’s mission to create an equitable society in which the rights and capacities of women, youth, children and underprivileged are integrated in the socio-economic planning and development of communities, for the attainment of equity and peace.
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