LASEPA, UNIDO, Japan conclude cholera prevention capacity-building project in Lagos

The Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA), in collaboration with the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) and the Government of Japan, has concluded a one-year capacity-building programme aimed at preventing cholera outbreaks in flood-prone communities across Lagos State.

The project, which trained informal food and water vendors as well as waste workers, was executed under UNIDO Project 240237 titled “Emergency Capacity Building of Informal Food and Water Vendors and Waste Workers in Flood-Affected Lagos to Combat Cholera Outbreaks.”

The closing ceremony was held in Lagos. 

The 12-month intervention followed the cholera outbreak recorded in Lagos in June 2024, when 579 suspected cases and 29 fatalities were reported, exposing sanitation gaps and unsafe waste management practices in vulnerable communities.

Speaking at the event, the Lagos State Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, described the initiative as a proactive collaboration targeted at breaking the chain of cholera transmission through community-level engagement.

He disclosed that the Government of Japan, through UNIDO, provided a $225,000 grant to support the programme across eight flood-prone local government areas: Ikorodu, Alimosho, Lagos Island, Ojo, Kosofe, Lagos Mainland, Badagry and Ikeja.

According to Wahab, 1,054 residents were sensitised during the first phase of the project, comprising 623 women and 431 men, while the second phase focused on practical training for 452 informal food and water vendors and waste workers on hygiene standards, safe food and water handling, and improved waste disposal practices.

He noted that since the commencement of the programme in April 2025, Lagos State has not recorded any new cholera outbreak, describing the outcome as evidence that preventive strategies and community ownership are yielding positive results.

The commissioner also highlighted complementary environmental initiatives by the state government, including drainage maintenance and desilting across the state, the award of 210 drainage infrastructure projects, and de-flooding interventions in 18 public schools.

He further referenced a memorandum of understanding signed with Zoomlion for the establishment of material recovery facilities in Epe and Badagry to enhance sustainable solid and liquid waste management.

In his welcome address, the General Manager of LASEPA, Dr. Babatunde Ajayi, said the agency engaged directly with informal food vendors and waste workers in affected communities, noting that field assessments revealed persistent sanitation gaps in rural, riverine and flood-prone areas.

Ajayi said the lessons and frameworks developed under the project would be integrated into LASEPA’s ongoing enforcement and advocacy programmes to ensure sustained public health protection.

The Director and UNIDO Representative to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Ambassador Philbert Johnson, described the project as a clear demonstration of the link between public health protection and sustainable development, adding that it successfully delivered training-of-trainers sessions, field outreach and essential response tools, including rapid diagnostic kits and water purification materials.

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Also speaking, the Ambassador of Japan to Nigeria, Ambassador Hideo Suzuki, reaffirmed Japan’s commitment to supporting Nigeria’s fight against cholera and other infectious diseases.

He disclosed that Japan is also funding two additional cholera-related interventions through the World Health Organisation and UNOPS, bringing its total contribution to about $1.725 million.

Suzuki stressed that cholera is preventable and that sustained investment in hygiene awareness, sanitation infrastructure and community engagement remains critical to achieving zero mortality.