The Customs Officers’ Wives Association (COWA) has launched a new era of community-driven climate action aimed at reshaping lives, landscapes, and the future of Nigeria’s border regions.
With the historic flag-off of the first-ever Green Border Day at Seme Border Town, Lagos State, the National President, Mrs Kikelomo Adeniyi, declared that Nigeria’s border communities would no longer remain at the margins of environmental transformation but would now stand at its frontline.
Describing the national climate movement as “a movement of hope, responsibility, and transformation,” Mrs Adeniyi emphasised that the COWA Green Borders Sustainability Initiative (CGBSI) is not a ceremonial activity but a nationwide intervention designed to reshape environmental culture at the grassroots.
“Through the Initiative, 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,” she noted.
She explained that “the initiative would run as a 12-month national programme, scaling from Seme and Idiroko to other major border towns such as Jibia, Illela, Maigatari, Mfum, and Calabar, with the goal of transforming Customs communities into clean, climate-smart environments.”
The event featured tree planting, community clean-ups, waste segregation demonstrations, and recycling hub training. Youths and market women participated actively, pledging to sustain the initiative through monthly “Clean Border Days.”
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Mrs Adeniyi expressed appreciation to the Nigeria Customs Service, the National Council on Climate Change (NCCC), and other partners for their unwavering collaboration.
Mrs Adeniyi stressed that “sustainability begins at home and grows through partnership and shared vision.”
She also announced that COWA would host a Special Side Event at the Nigerian Pavilion during COP 30 in Belém, Brazil, scheduled for 17 November 2025.
The Side Event will spotlight how COWA is transforming border communities into climate-resilient, economically empowered ecosystems led by women, a narrative expected to attract international partnerships and investment.
She said; “We are taking the story of the COWA Green Borders Sustainability Initiative to the world.
“At Nigeria’s borders, women are not only supporting trade, we are protecting the environment and securing the future.”
She invited all Nigerian delegates, development partners, and stakeholders attending COP 30 to join COWA at the Nigerian Pavilion on 17 November to witness how Nigerian women are leading climate action from the grassroots to the global stage.
The Green Border Day campaign will continue nationwide over the next year, culminating in the presentation of a National Green Borders Impact Report and the commissioning of the Green Borders Centre at the next COWA Green Borders and Sustainability Summit.