Success Stories

Nigeria's Information-Freedom Triumph

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President Goodluck Jonathan casts his vote for president in Ogbia district
01/17/2012

After an 11-year struggle to pass the Freedom of Information bill, a quest to bring greater accountability and transparency in public service ends in a landmark law.

In February 2011, Nigeria’s House of Representatives responded to Nigerians’ call for greater transparency and accountability by passing the Freedom of Information (FOI) bill by a voice vote with no dissents. A Senate vote concurred the next month.

My Vote Fit Change Naija

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My Vote Fit Change Naija screenshot
01/13/2012

A movie by Youngstars Foundation featuring popular Nigerian actors, including star comedian, Julius Agwu, to highlight the importance of the April 2011 Elections and how the vote could check bad to ensure better service to the community such as improved healthcare, clean water, good roads, etc.

Click here to view the video

In Sokoto, Water is Life

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Hajia Maina at the Fanari borehole, pumping water and saving lives
12/16/2011

Increased access to water, sanitation and hygiene saves lives in Sokoto

Miller Finds Fortune in Rice Cultivation

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Joseph Ununu in his rice warehouse in Abakaliki.
12/15/2011

USAID's agribusiness project encourages entrepreneur to explore opportunities
 
Joseph Ununu, 45, learned early in life to grow rice; it was a family vocation. But a pest infestation of rice fields in Abakaliki, Eastern Nigeria, in the 1990s, took the zeal off him.  The pests devastated his four-hectare rice farm, forcing him to shift attention to milling, which only earned marginal incomes to look after his family.
 

HIV/AIDS Caregivers Achieve Peanut Butter Profits

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Jamila and her husband proudly display their peanut butter.
12/14/2011

Through USAID training, caregiver’s peanut butter business results in healthy household profits

Like many caregivers in Kano, northern Nigeria, Jamila is responsible for raising her children and caring for relatives affected by HIV/AIDS.  Previously, she relied on her husband or other sources for financial support. After her husband lost his job, and with six people in her household, Jamila had to find a means to provide for her family financially.

Government of Nigeria Expands Treatment and Care for Fistula Patients

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Medical Director Dr. Iloegben Sunday-Adeoye conducting USAID staff around the ne
08/11/2011

Growing up as a young girl in south-eastern Nigeria, Josephine Elechi, wife of the Governor of Ebonyi State, noticed many women being ostracized by their communities because they suffered from obstetric fistula. She remembers promising herself that she would do something to reduce the needless deaths of women during childbirth and the discrimination against women affected by fistula.  Fistula is the result of prolonged labor without prompt medical intervention, resulting in damage to the woman’s birth canal, causing chronic incontinence and in many cases, death of the baby.

Life-Saving Water for Nigeria's Pupils

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BEFORE More than 800 pupils of Natsugune Primary School in Kano, Nigeria, had
AFTER As part of its efforts to improve access to safe water, sanitation and
01/07/2011
Access to clean water and sanitation facilities is a great challenge to Nigerians.   Hygiene education and best practices are rarer where there is less water due to climate or topography. In rural northern Nigeria for example, only about 30 percent of the population have access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation facilities. This results in a high prevalence of waterborne diseases which threatens the health of the people, who are mainly subsistence farmers. Lack of clean water also contributes to low school enrollment, especi

Data Provokes Traditional Ruler, Boosts Polio Immunizations

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Children perform immunization exercises
08/13/2010

The people of Birnin-Magaji, a rural local government area in Zamfara state in northern Nigeria, are mainly farmers, traders, and herders. The population is highly mobile to meet the demands of daily living. This raises the risk of transmissible diseases such as polio which can leave children with permanent disability, especially those who have not received the required doses of vaccines.

Nigerian Rice Farmers: Making Money and Feeding the Country

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Farmers fertilizing rice crop in Benue state, Nigeria
08/13/2010

U.S. Government in partnership to increase rice production in Nigeria

Rural Social Entrepreneur Boosts Immunization Coverage

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A man transports a group of people by boat
08/13/2010

Tucked securely in a canoe, mothers and children chorused traditional songs as they traveled to the nearest routine immunization post some 8 kilometers away from Ajara, a remote rural community in Badagry local government area in Lagos state. It was another immunization day and as usual, the capable hands of sixty-five-year-old J.J. Koklanu paddled
them around the floating logs that obstructed the river.