For residents in and around Nsukka, Ezeagu, Uzo-Uwani, Isi-uzo and Enugu South local government areas (LGAs) in Enugu State, a new lifeline is underway as Coca Cola Foundation (TCCF), through its flagship programme, the Replenish Africa Initiative (RAIN), launches a N300 million water project in partnership with WaterAid for these communities.
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The project, which will provide access to sustainable clean water, sanitation and hygiene services to over 10,000 residents of these communities, was unveiled at Umuabor and Ugwuaji communities in Nsukka and Enugu South local government areas, respectively.
Expectation is that given the scope of the project, it would provide about 2,250 people per day with access to clean water, refurbish 15 boreholes across benefitting communities and construct 5 new hand pump operated bore holes. An estimated 5,000 households will also receive toilet facilities along with small-scale water service programmes designed to empower women and stimulate grassroots economic empowerment.
The unveiling of the project followed several weeks of strategic planning and collaboration between the lead project sponsors and other key government agencies and stakeholders such as The Small Town Water Unit, Enugu State Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency and the Global Health Aware and Research Foundation (GHARF), among others.
ChiChi Aniagolu-Okoye, WaterAid country director, noted in a statement obtained by BusinessDay that “millions of people in Nigeria are still without access to clean water, decent toilets and sanitation, and the adverse consequences on health and socio-economic well-being are glaring.”
She assured of their commitment to implement the ‘Sustainable Clean Water and Sanitation in Small Towns and Rural Areas’ project in the five local government areas of Enugu State, adding, “the strategic objective to intervene and provide suitable access to water and sanitation services is crucial to the socio-economic wellbeing of Enugu State.”
She cited a recent surveys indicating very poor access rates to clean water in South East Nigeria which made it necessary to initiate positive action to prevent further avoidable economic, health and social losses in rural communities.
Clem Ugorji, director, public affairs/communications, West Africa Business Unit of Coca Cola Foundation, also assured of the foundation’s global commitment under its RAIN, noting that projects of this scale were necessary to catalyse and improve the lifestyle and wellbeing of struggling Nigerians, especially those in rural areas.
“Our commitment to the SDG goals is both in principle and in practice, and has been so for decades, as we practice what we preach by being careful stewards of such a scarce resource as water. Our strategy is to look for smarter ways to produce such that our water footprint is significantly reduced,” he said.
Continuing, he said, “we also ensure that our business system leverages on recycling technology to eliminate all forms of water wastage and finally, under our RAIN programmes, we commit to return 100 percent of the water we use in our products back to nature and communities while protecting watersheds and preserving aquifers.”
