NEWS
Hygiene: WaterAid, The Coca-Cola Foundation, take campaign to Borno communities
By Edozie Obasi-Eze
WaterAid has drawn from the fund backing of The Coca-Cola Foundation (TCCF), to launch an 18-month project targeted at improving access to safe water, sanitation, and hygiene services in four communities within and around the Maiduguri Metropolis, Borno State.
The project, titled ‘Strengthening Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Service Delivery in Borno State, Nigeria (S-WASH),’ will be managed by the Global Environment and Technology Foundation (GETF). The intervention aims to reach at least 14,000 people directly in Pompomari, Jiddari Polo, Shehuri and Goman communities in Borno State, with improved water supply service and hygiene promotion.
Evelyn Mere, Country Director, WaterAid Nigeria, said, “Equitable access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene services in Borno State has been severely hampered by the prolonged humanitarian crisis in the region. This situation exposes residents, especially women and children, to diverse kinds of risks, including the threat of attack and a higher risk of contracting infectious diseases.
“The S-WASH project will contribute to the ongoing emergency response in Borno state by addressing the challenges of water scarcity and poor water, sanitation, and hygiene services in the selected communities. Additionally, hygiene behaviour change promotion will help to control the spread of infectious diseases such as COVID-19 and cholera within the communities.
“Water, sanitation, and hygiene services are critical for upholding human dignity and well-being. These services are critical to lifting people out of poverty, unlocking their potential, and supporting them to realise their full rights. We must ensure they are available to everyone, everywhere and no one is left behind.”
In her remarks, President, The Coca-Cola Foundation, Saadia Madsbjerg said, “Water security is a top priority at The Coca-Cola Foundation. We are therefore committed to supporting as many initiatives as we can that will reduce water challenges in Africa as well as enhancing water resilience and improving healthy watersheds in communities”.
“We are proud of the collaboration we have with GETF and WaterAid, who bring their expertise to bear and through who we are able to positively impact these 14,000 beneficiaries in Borno, Nigeria.”
It was gathered that the S-WASH project plans to construct and rehabilitate four water schemes and provide handwashing facilities in public locations. The project will work to educate people on hygiene practices for maximizing the health benefits of safe water sources and sanitation facilities; and distribute hygiene kits to residents in the target locations and at internally displaced people (IDPs) settlements. The project also aims to support economic empowerment activities for women and youth through WASH-related business opportunities and ensure water quality by strengthening capacity of community-based management models for operations and maintenance.
To support the sustainability of the project, the project aims to train local artisans, particularly youth within the community, on maintenance, operations, and minor repairs of water supply schemes. In addition, the project seeks to train about 30 women to operate, manage, and maintain the water schemes.
READ ALSO: Soldiers discover kidnapped Chibok schoolgirl in Borno
The protracted insurgency and humanitarian crisis in Borno State has put a strain on the state’s resources and capacity to deliver basic services. Access to water, sanitation and hygiene services are limited and most water facilities are dysfunctional, requiring either an overhaul or the construction of new systems to meet the population’s water needs.
According to the 2021 Water, Sanitation and Hygiene National Outcome Routine Mapping Survey (WASH NORMS), 76 per cent of people living in Borno State drink contaminated water, while 93 per cent lack access to basic hygiene services.
Similarly, only 14 per cent of schools and 12 per cent of healthcare centres in the state have basic water, sanitation, and hygiene facilities.
To ensure effective delivery of the S-WASH project, WaterAid will be working closely with different stakeholders in the state, including traditional leaders, youth, and women’s groups, IDP camp leaders, civil society organisations (CSOs), the private sector, Borno State Ministry of Water Resources (MoWR), Borno State Rural, Water, and Sanitation Agency (RUWASSA) and the local government area (LGA) WASH departments.
NEWS
Adeleke Approves Adeyemi’s Appointment As Chairman, Governing Council, Osun State College of Education
Osun State Governor, Senator Ademola Adeleke has approved the appointment of Akinyele Sarafa Adeyemi, as the new Chairman of the Governing Council of the Osun State College of Education, Ila Orangun.
This was detailed in a statement in Osogbo on Friday by Spokesperson to Governor Adeleke, Olawale Rasheed.
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According to Rasheed, Adeyemi replaces Dr Peter Babalola who resigned his appointment after a controversial tenure at the College of Education.
He stated that “Adeyemi who holds a first and Masters degrees in Education from the University of Ibadan is a retired principal of the Federal Girls College, Ipetumodu.”
It was gathered that the swearing in ceremony for the new Council Chairman holds by 10am on Monday at the EXCO lounge.
The Committee on Consequential Adjustments in Salaries for Civil Servants has confirmed that the newly approved minimum wage will be implemented starting July 29, 2024.
This was disclosed in a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) issued at the conclusion of the committee’s meeting in Abuja on Friday.
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The MoU reads, “The National Salaries, Incomes, and Wages Commission (NSIWC) will prepare and release the necessary salary templates for other consolidated salary structures. The implementation date for the new wage will take effect from July 29, 2024.”
The committee, comprising 16 members, was set up to oversee the execution of the National Minimum Wage Act of 2024. This legislation raised the country’s minimum wage from ₦30,000 to ₦70,000.
Among its key responsibilities, the committee is tasked with negotiating salary adjustments across various sectors and developing a template for implementing the newly approved wage structure.
With the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) popular in the streets as petrol, hovering around approximately N1000-N1300 per litre, concerns are mounting about the viability of fuel subsidies in Nigeria.
Energy policy analyst, Adeyemi Adeoye, has underscored the critical role of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) in this issue, shedding light on who bears the subsidy costs.
He shared his views on TVC News on Friday.
Biztellers reports that the pump price of petrol has risen from below N200/litre at at May 29, 2023 to around N1300/litre as at September 20, 2024, with little variations depending the part of Nigeria, consumers are buying from.
Read More: Fuel Pricing Should Serve Public Interest, Not Profit — Yemi Adeoye
He stated, “Only the NNPC can engage in negotiations of this nature. Their partnership with the Dangote Refinery gives them leverage to negotiate from a position of strength.”
Adeoye highlighted that while the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) and other marketers lack significant influence over prices, the Dangote Refinery prioritizes profitability.
According to him, this makes the NNPC’s negotiations vital, as they are legally required by the Petroleum Industry Act to ensure fuel availability across the country and prevent long queues at gas stations.
Adeoye said, “It is only NNPC that could have gone into that type of negotiation because NNPC is coming to the table from a position of strength because they have a partnership with the Dangote Refinery, and they have other businesses they are supplying crude to, so they can come and say, ‘Look, this has to be this way.’
“The IPMAN and the other marketers cannot do that because Dangote is a profit-making organization; it is not a charity organization. So, the only thing that is important to the Dangote Refinery is to make a profit, which is the same thing that is important to any business.
“So, the NNPC went into these negotiations because it also understands that it is the last resort. In terms of fuel distribution in the country, NNPC is mandated by the Petroleum Industry Act to make sure that there are no queues in the country. So, even if they don’t want to do it, the law mandates NNPC as the supplier, the last resort, to make sure that there is petroleum product across Nigeria.
“That negotiation is such that NNPC took all the calculations in and said, ‘This is a fair pricing that we know we can withstand.’
“Because what NNPC was paying out, which you might call a subsidy or under-recovery, NNPC was paying the difference on behalf of the government, which is under the directive of the president, who has also said he wants to see this situation totally resolved.
“That was why he directed the NNPC to make sure that crude oil to the Dangote Refinery is sold in Naira, because NNPC produces the crude in dollars, and it has to be sold to the Dangote Refinery in Naira, which is good faith.” he added
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