The three years Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Improvement Project, WASHIP, to the tune of one million dollars has closed in Lagos.
The WASHIP projects which served over one hundred and eighty thousand people in Ikorodu North LCDA, Ojodu LCDA and Igando-Ikotun LCDA were executed by an NGO WaterAid Nigeria PepsiCo foundation.
At the closing ceremony in Ikeja, Representatives of the Lagos State Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources, Mr. James Oyedele commended the WaterAid Nigeria and the donor PepsiCo foundation for contributing immensely to the end open defecation campaign of the state government through provision of WASH facilities in beneficiary schools and Communities in the three LCDAs.
In the same vein, a representative of Education District six who is also a beneficiary of the WASHIP projects, Dr Kudirat Adeyemi, said the intervention would improve attendance in schools through conducive teaching and learning environment especially for females during their monthly flows.
Speaking of the achievements of the three-year WASHIP projects in Lagos, Head of Lagos Program WaterAid Nigeria, Dr Adebayo Alao, said the intervention was to promote the five hygiene behavioral changes at the rural areas while empowering over thirty five female mechanics with training to be able to fix any technical faults within the facilities provided.
He urged the Lagos State government to use the projects as a model to replicate in other communities noting that WaterAid Nigeria is also going into large scale Urban Water Development to ensure millions of residents in Lagos have access to potable water to improve hygiene.
In a welcome address, the Project Coordinator in WaterAid Nigeria, Mr Godfrey Iloha said the project which started in August 2022 has achieved its four main objectives in promoting hygiene in Public Schools through construction of gender friendly toilets, construction of Solar powered WASH facilities in rural communities in the three focal LCDAs and hygiene promotions using different media channels to reach over one hundred thousand residents to keep diseases away, with a call on beneficiaries to protect and take ownership of the facilities to serve them longer.
Appreciating WaterAid Nigeria and PepsiCo foundation for the projects, the CDC Chairman Ikorodu North LCDA, Prince Adeniran Ogunbanwo, thanked the donors and promised that the facilities would be properly maintained and protected from vandals in their communities, highlighting that the impacts of the interventions would save lives.
The highlight of the closing ceremony was the presentation of hygiene songs and drama by students of Ojodu High School and Agidingbi Junior Grammar School.
The beneficiaries include Agbede Ebuwawa Market and Community, Egan Primary Health Center, Ojodu PHC, Agodo Alara Community Primary School, Agidingbi Junior Grammar School, Ojodu High School, among others.
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