COWA Flags Off First Green Border Day, to Host COP30 Side Event in Brazil
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COWA Flags Off First Green Border Day, to Host COP30 Side Event in Brazil
By Alabidun Shuaib AbdulRahman
The Customs Officers’ Wives Association (COWA) has launched the first-ever Green Border Day at Seme Border Town, Lagos State, as part of efforts to promote environmental sustainability across Nigeria’s border communities.
The event, themed “Our Borders, Our People — Greening Communities for a Sustainable Future,” marks the official take-off of the COWA Green Borders Sustainability Initiative (CGBSI), a nationwide campaign to create cleaner, greener, and climate-smart border environments.
Speaking at the event, the National President of COWA, Mrs. Kikelomo Adeniyi, described the initiative as “a movement of hope, responsibility, and transformation that connects our homes, our borders, and our planet.”
She said the Abuja Green Borders and Sustainability Summit earlier held by the association laid the foundation for the project and also birthed the COWA Sustainability and Innovation Centre, which will serve as a national hub for climate education, women’s empowerment, and green innovation.
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“The Abuja Summit gave birth to this action. What we launched as an idea in the capital has now become visible reality in Seme,” she said.
“Through the CGBSI, COWA is planting over 5,000 trees, training more than 1,000 women and youths in recycling and green enterprise, and establishing solar-powered eco-hubs across Nigeria’s border regions.”
Adeniyi explained that the initiative will run for 12 months, beginning from Seme and Idiroko, and later extend to other border towns including Jibia, Illela, Maigatari, Mfum, and Calabar.
Activities at the flag-off included tree planting, community clean-ups, waste segregation demonstrations, and recycling hub training. Youths and market women also pledged to sustain the campaign through monthly “Clean Border Days.”
The COWA president commended the Nigeria Customs Service, the National Council on Climate Change (NCCC), and other partners for their collaboration, noting that “sustainability begins at home and grows through partnership and shared vision.”
She further announced that COWA will host a side event at the Nigerian Pavilion during the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30) in Belém, Brazil, on November 17, 2025.
“We are taking the story of the COWA Green Borders Sustainability Initiative to the world,” she said.
“At Nigeria’s borders, women are not only supporting trade — we are protecting the environment and securing the future.”
Adeniyi urged Nigerian delegates, development partners, and climate stakeholders attending COP30 to join COWA at the event to witness how Nigerian women are driving grassroots climate action.
The Green Border Day campaign will continue across other border areas in the coming months and will culminate in the presentation of a National Green Borders Impact Report and commissioning of the COWA Sustainability and Innovation Centre at the next Green Borders and Sustainability Summit.
