Bamgboye Abiodun; Executive Secretary, Manufacturers Association of
Nigeria(MAN), Oluchi Odimuko; Plant Manager(Ikeja), Nigerian Bottling
Company (NBC) Limited, Aderemi Adewoye; Assistant Director, Lagos State
Environmental Protection Agency(LASEPA), Aghosa Anikwe and Chief
Executive Officer, Lagos Water Corporation, Muminu Badmus at a
stakeholder interaction forum organized by Nigerian Bottling Company
Limited to mark 2019 World Water Day in Lagos recently.
Nigerian Bottling Company Limited, a member of the Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company (CCHBC) and bottler of Coca-Cola brands in Nigeria has joined the rest of the world to celebrate the World Water Day with a resolve or commitment to intensify its efforts in ensuring safe water management practices as part of its contribution to the Sustainable Development Goal which highlight the needs to make water accessible for all by 2030. The company held activities in Lagos, Port Harcourt and Abuja to commemorate the 2019 celebration.
According to the Public Affairs and Communications Director, Nigerian Bottling Company Limited (NBC), Ekuma Eze, the annual United Nation’s World Water Day, presents a platform which NBC utilizes for the advancement of the Sustainable Development Goal 6, ‘Water for all by 2030’, by promoting discourse and awareness around safe water practices and other water sustainability initiatives.
Eze explained that “Nigerian Bottling Company considers such a platform as an opportunity to advocate for the sustainable use of water while also helping communities in need of water interventions to ensure that when it comes to safe water, truly no one is left behind,”
In Lagos, NBC held a water sustainability stakeholder forum which was graced by the Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Ministry of the Environment, Bamgboye Abiodun; Executive Secretary, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, Oluchi Odimuko; Ikeja Plant Manager, Nigerian Bottling Company (NBC) Limited, Aderemi Adewoye; Assistant Director, Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA), Aghosa Anikwe and Chief Executive Officer, Lagos Water Corporation, Muminu Badmus and secondary school students from Agidingbi Grammar School and Government Technical College, Agidingbi, Ikeja, Lagos. Following stakeholder discussions, the students were taken round on a special tour of the NBC Ikeja plant’s effluent Water Treatment Plant.
Speaking at the event, the Managing Director, Lagos Water Corporation (LWC), Mr. Muminu Badmus disclosed that the corporation has planned to increase the state’s water production capacity to 492 million gallons per day by year 2023 to close the water demand gap significantly. He explained that LWC has also widened its database to effectively supply water to more people in Lagos, deploying water meters to properties across the state, such that consumers can now pay for the exact amount of water they consume.
Badmus therefore called for a multi-sectoral approach to tackling the challenges of access to fresh and portable water for Nigerians with special focus on the importance of freshwater and advocating for sustainable management of freshwater resources.
Also, the Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Ministry of the Environment, Mr. Bamgboye Abiodun commended the role of NBC for ensuring the efficient use and management of water particularly in their operations. Abiodun noted that the company has demonstrated a clear commitment to making water accessible not only for their operations but for the communities around them through their water management processes.
Speaking at the Lagos event, the Public Affairs Manager, Lagos/West, Nigerian Bottling Company Limited (NBC), Ifeoma Okoye explained that NBC’s efforts are in line with the Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company’s 2025 sustainability commitments, Okoye stated that “All NBC plants in Nigeria now boast of effluent treatment facilities. Our plant here has a fully functional effluent treatment plant technology which was deployed to ensure the monitoring and protection of water resources, it has recorded a 27% efficiency improvement in the last 5 years.” Okoye said.
In Port Harcourt, Rivers State, NBC staff alongside volunteers and residents in the neighborhood community cleaned up the Oginigba River behind a Slaughter Market directly opposite its Port Harcourt Plant. The exercise was witnessed by other relevant stakeholders, including top government functionaries, regulatory bodies, community key opinion leaders, NGOs and market unions who expressed their commitment towards stronger collaboration that would promote access to safe water.
Also, in Abuja NBC partnered with the Federal Ministry of Water Resources, Abuja and the Federal Capital Territory Water Board to hold lectures and commission boreholes in two communities in Abuja to mark the 2019 World Water Day.
