The Customs Officers’ Wives Association (COWA) has launched Nigeria’s first-ever Green Border Day as part of its national environmental sustainability campaign, the COWA Green Borders Sustainability Initiative (CGBSI).

With the theme “Our Borders, Our People — Greening Communities for a Sustainable Future,” the event brought together senior officials of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), environmental stakeholders, community leaders, and hundreds of women and youth volunteers in a lively call for climate resilience.

Mrs. Kikelomo Adeniyi, National President of COWA, described the launch as “a movement of hope, responsibility, and transformation that connects our homes, our borders, and our planet.”

She recalled the momentum built during the COWA Green Borders and Sustainability Summit held in Abuja earlier this year, where the organisation unveiled the COWA Sustainability and Innovation Centre — envisioned as a national hub for climate education, women’s empowerment, and green enterprise.

“The Abuja Summit gave birth to this action. What we launched as an idea in the capital has now become a visible reality in Seme,” Mrs. Adeniyi said.

“Through the CGBSI, 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.”

Over the next 12 months, the CGBSI will expand from Seme and Idiroko to other major border communities, including Jibia, Illela, Maigatari, Mfum, and Calabar, transforming Customs communities into clean, climate-smart environments.

Activities at the Seme flag-off included tree planting, community clean-ups, waste segregation demonstrations, and training sessions on recycling hubs. Youths and market women took pledges to sustain the project through monthly “Clean Border Days.”

Mrs. Adeniyi commended the Nigeria Customs Service, the National Council on Climate Change (NCCC), and other partners for their collaboration, emphasising that “sustainability begins at home and grows through partnership and shared vision.”

She revealed that COWA will host a special Side Event at the Nigerian Pavilion during COP 30, the United Nations Climate Change Conference scheduled for November in Belém, Brazil.

“We are taking the story of the COWA Green Borders Sustainability Initiative to the world,” she declared. “At Nigeria’s borders, women are not only supporting trade — we are protecting the environment and securing the future.”

COWA urges Nigerian delegates, development partners, and global stakeholders attending COP 30 to join the association’s session at the Nigerian Pavilion to witness how Nigerian women are driving grassroots climate leadership with global impact.

Mrs Chinelo Nnadi, COWA National Public Relations Officer, in a statement, said the Green Border Day campaign will continue across the country, culminating in the presentation of a National Green Borders Impact Report and the official commissioning of the COWA Sustainability & Innovation Centre at the next COWA Green Borders and Sustainability Summit.