CLP celebrates 30 years of empowering marginalised and vulnerable grassroots citizens in Nigeria

Community Life Project (CLP), an NGO founded in 1992 has over the last weekend, marked her 30th anniversary in grand style, as the nonprofit civil society organisation has been empowering the marginalised and most vulnerable grassroots citizens to take greater responsibility for their well-being, end inequality and build thriving communities.

CLP began by working in the Isolo community in the Lagos metropolis, subsequently expanded to neighbouring communities – Oshodi and Mushin – and then scaled up nationally. Today, the NGO stands tall in the family of Civil Society Organisations in Nigeria as an example of a resourceful, results-oriented, and resilient institution; a promoter of equity and social inclusion; a convener of stakeholders, development agencies and faith-based communities; and a resource for thousands grassroots leaders.

According to the Founder and Executive Director, Dr Ngozi Iwere, the 30th-anniversary celebration is an occasion to celebrate the grassroots leaders who have been toiling hard to improve lives and service delivery in communities across the country: “they are the unsung heroes and heroines of our tedious nation-building efforts” she said, “they have been holding together this great nation through their ubiquitous trades – as carpenters, bike riders, grinding machine operators, mechanics, vulcanisers, market men and women, hairdressers, tailors, photographers, welders and numerous others; and have worked assiduously with us at CLP over these past three decades to improve elections and local governance all over the country. We plan to celebrate their efforts as we mark our 30th anniversary.”

The event held at the prestigious Muson Centre, had in attendance, the Board Chairman of CLP, Veteran broadcaster, Soni Irabor, Musician and photographer, TY Bello who also is a board member, including frontline music artiste, Kingsley Okonkwo, popularly called, KCee.

The grassroots citizens who have been impacted by the work of CLP took centre stage at the event, which also had in attendance, grassroots women politicians who were empowered to increase their level of representation and participation in politics at the Local level.

Some of the youths that CLP’s Theatre-for-Development programme helped discover their hidden creative abilities to actualise their dreams would be gracing the event, amongst whom are, Chiedozie Nzeribe (Sambasa), Lateef Adedimeji, Kingsley Okonkwo (KCee).

Over the past three decades, CLP has also built the capacity of government agencies and public officers to better deliver services to people at the grassroots, as well as working with the Lagos State AID Control Agency (LASACA) in the 1990s to ensure that HIV/AIDs prevention activities reach the grassroots and helped to strengthen the health system response in Lagos State by training and retraining health workers.