The Customs Officers’ Wives Association (COWA) has launched a new initiative focused on environmental sustainability, women’s empowerment, youth development, and economic inclusion in Nigeria’s border communities.
The event, known as the COWA Sustainability and Green Borders Summit, was held on Thursday, October 16, 2025, at the Ladi Kwali Event Centre, Abuja Continental Hotel. The summit carried the theme, “Greening Borders, Empowering Lives: Women and Youth as Champions of Sustainable Trade.”
The occasion attracted top government officials and development partners, including the Comptroller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi; directors from the Ministries of Youth Development and Women Affairs; and representatives from collaborating agencies such as the Border Communities Development Agency. The agency’s Executive Secretary, Mallam Sadiq Abdullahi, Esq., was among those present.
In her keynote address, the National President of COWA, Mrs Kikelomo Adeniyi, described the summit as more than an event but a “movement for transformation,” highlighting Nigeria’s dedication to a cleaner and more inclusive future. She announced plans to establish the COWA Sustainability and Innovation Centre in Abuja, which will serve as a training hub to empower women and youth in solar energy, waste recycling, and green entrepreneurship.
“This is not just about planting trees,” she stated. “It’s about planting hope, growing opportunities, and cultivating responsibility.”
According to Mrs Adeniyi, the upcoming centre will feature a Green Skills Academy, an Innovation and Research Lab, a Policy and Leadership Institute, and a Green Enterprise Hub. The hub will support projects in eco-fashion, recycling, and renewable energy, helping participants build sustainable livelihoods.
She further revealed insights from the recently conducted Green Barrack Audit, which showed that seven out of ten border communities in Nigeria lack access to clean water and electricity. She added that deforestation and illegal trade are worsening living conditions and economic challenges in those areas.
Addressing participants, Comptroller-General of Customs Adewale Adeniyi called for a shift in the government’s approach to border management, emphasizing investment in border communities. “We need to stop treating border communities like problems to be managed and start treating them like partners to be invested in,” he said. “Prevention is cheaper than enforcement, and it is more humane.”
He explained that real empowerment through green enterprise, youth employment, and sustainable infrastructure remains the best path to ending poverty, smuggling, and insecurity. “Let’s move from talking about green borders to actually building them,” he said. “That means funding; real funding, that reaches women and young people doing the actual work on the ground.”
Adewale Adeniyi also reaffirmed that the Nigeria Customs Service would align its modernisation programme with global sustainability goals, ensuring that trade facilitation contributes to environmental protection and community development.
The event featured a panel session moderated by Joy Onyekwere, with experts in climate change and sustainability, including Dr Ameh Zion Abba, Prof. Magnus Onuoha, Dr Chimere Ohajinwa, and Rifkaku Joseph Odeyemi. The discussion focused on the role of women and youth in promoting green livelihood opportunities in Nigeria’s border areas.
Participants praised COWA for its innovative approach in connecting trade, sustainability, and border development.
In her closing remarks, Mrs Kikelomo Adeniyi reaffirmed COWA’s commitment to promoting environmental awareness and socio-economic empowerment through actionable programmes. She urged all stakeholders to work together to achieve a greener, fairer, and more secure Nigeria.