Environment
Group Wants Policies To Promote Safe Hygiene In Schools
President, Global Advo
cacy for Toilet and Sanitary Standards Initiative, Ms. Miriam Onuoha, has called for deliberate policies to promote safe hygiene in schools to reduce preventable diseases in the country.
Onuoha told newsmen in Abuja that the school environment was a breeding ground for pathogens (organism promoting diseases) to thrive.
According to her, hygiene promotion matters in school, because young pupils are most vulnerable to the threats caused by unclean water, poor sanitation and hygiene.
“Schools realistically help as a meeting point of pathogens spread, a large numbers of pupils from different socio-economic background assemble into one place. “Diarrhoea diseases, intestinal worms and other debilitating parasites affect a lot of school children. “Such disease burden have a negative effect on growth, nutritional status, physical activities, cognition, concentration and school performance of children between ages five and 14. “Despite this, globally, more than 50 per cent of schools lack access to a safe water supply and about two thirds of schools have no access to sanitation facilities,” she said.
Onuoha said schools need to be empowered to have adequate toilets and constant running water, saying lack of sufficient sanitary infrastructures has been attributed to poor performance of students.
She stressed the need for national policy makers to invest in physical Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) infrastructure in addition to enhancing resources for hygiene promotion. This, she said would impact positively on life skill based practices on daily basis.
She said hygiene promotion in schools and through schools programme was also important to children because they play in the school environment, around their home and are prone to diarrhoea.
She said it was a known fact that human excreta were the major carriers of these pathogens, saying with a healthy, safe and protective leaving environment, the lives of school children is ensured.
“The healthy environment also helps children for their cognitive, emotional and social development through nurturing values, hygienic habits, skills and experiences. “In turn, school children can act as change agents for their family members and the community. “One of the prerequisite conditions for quality education is the provision of an environment conducive for pupil, so that they enjoy school and achieve the best of their capability,’’ she said.
According to the WHO/UNICEF led Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP 2015), only 29 per cent of Nigeria’s population have access to improved sanitation facilities.
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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