Nigeria | Wednesday, 21 May 2026
The Wellbeing Foundation Africa (WBFA), in partnership with Reckitt, has officially launched Phase III of the Wellbeing Foundation Africa – Dettol Hygiene Quest (DHQ) Programme in healthcare facilities, schools, and communities across Nigeria. The initiative reinforces ongoing efforts to strengthen hygiene education, promote behavioural change, enhance infection prevention awareness, and encourage healthier hygiene practices across schools, healthcare facilities, and communities.
The DHQ Programme aligns with Reckitt’s Clean Nigeria Campaign, launched in 2019 in response to the Federal Government’s 2018 declaration of a Water, Sanitation and Hygiene emergency. The campaign is a bold, coordinated, and citizen-driven movement aimed at making Nigeria open defecation-free, while supporting Sustainable Development Goal target 6.2, which seeks to ensure access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all.
The official Phase III flag-off ceremony was hosted in Lagos State, marking the commencement of expanded programme implementation activities across Lagos, Kano, and Rivers States. Building on the impact and lessons from previous phases, DHQ Phase III continues programme implementation in Lagos State while expanding into Kano and Rivers States, broadening the programme’s public health engagement footprint across schools, healthcare facilities, and communities.
Through Phase III, the programme will engage more than 750,000 students across 750 schools, over 90,000 pregnant women and nursing mothers, caregivers and healthcare beneficiaries across 78 healthcare facilities, as well as wider community stakeholders. The programme will deliver hygiene education, behavioural change communication, WASH advocacy, infection prevention sensitisation, maternal and newborn hygiene engagement, and practical handwashing demonstrations.
The programme engages students, teachers, healthcare workers, nurse educators, caregivers, pregnant women, nursing mothers, families, and community stakeholders through practical hygiene learning designed to support healthier behaviours, safer learning and healthcare environments, and improved hygiene awareness.
Since the launch of the Dettol Hygiene Quest programme in Nigeria, more than 440,000 beneficiaries have been reached across 720 schools, 36 healthcare facilities, and 456 communities through hygiene promotion, self-care education, behavioural change interventions, infection prevention control, maternal hygiene awareness, and healthy living initiatives.
The programme also builds on broader preventive health and maternal hygiene engagement efforts, including Dettol’s longstanding New Moms Program, which has supported more than five million pregnant women and new mothers across Nigeria with hygiene education focused on maternal wellbeing, newborn protection, infection prevention, and healthy hygiene practices during and after pregnancy.
DHQ Phase III further aligns with broader hygiene and preventive health advocacy efforts supported through Reckitt’s Clean Naija initiative, which promotes healthier hygiene behaviours, cleaner environments, and public health awareness across communities.
The official flag-off ceremony brought together government representatives, education stakeholders, healthcare partners, development organisations, programme implementers, school administrators, teachers, students, community representatives, and members of the media in support of the programme’s multi-state rollout.
Speaking during the event, Dr. Osinachi Onyeoziri, WBFA’s Director of Programming and Reporting, highlighted the importance of strengthening hygiene awareness, behavioural change, and preventive health education among children, families, and communities.
“The Dettol Hygiene Quest Programme is not just about teaching hygiene. It is about building lifelong healthy habits. Through this programme, children are equipped with practical knowledge that supports healthier behaviours, safer learning environments, and stronger communities.”
— Dr. Osinachi Onyeoziri, Director of Programming and Reporting, WBFA
He further noted that healthy habits such as proper handwashing, personal hygiene, and preventive health awareness remain important in supporting healthier schools, healthier families, safer communities, and improved infection prevention and control outcomes. The programme also strengthens Hygiene Quest Clubs within schools to support peer learning, student participation, behavioural change reinforcement, and sustained hygiene advocacy among children and young people.
Also speaking during the event, Abikoye Toluwase, Brand Manager for Dettol at Reckitt Nigeria, emphasised the importance of strengthening healthy hygiene habits among children, families, healthcare beneficiaries, and communities through sustained education and partnership-driven interventions.
“At Reckitt, we know that good hygiene habits, especially proper handwashing, can play a major role in reducing the spread of communicable diseases and improving everyday health outcomes for children, families, and communities. Beyond that, when children learn healthy habits early, those habits can create lasting impact far beyond the classroom.”
— Abikoye Toluwase, Brand Manager for Dettol, Reckitt Nigeria
She further noted that the continued partnership with the Wellbeing Foundation Africa reflects a shared commitment to supporting healthier schools, healthier communities, improved infection prevention awareness, maternal hygiene education, and long-term preventive health engagement through practical hygiene education and behavioural change communication.
During the event, students participated in interactive hygiene education sessions focused on germs, infection prevention, self-care, WASH awareness, and proper hand hygiene, alongside practical handwashing demonstrations designed to reinforce healthy habits within schools and communities. Selected student hygiene champions also participated in return demonstrations, reinforcing peer learning, behavioural adoption, and student-led hygiene advocacy within classroom settings.
Students also received hygiene materials to encourage the continued practice of healthy hygiene habits within schools, households, healthcare settings, and communities.
Following the national Phase III flag-off ceremony held in Lagos State, programme implementation activities will continue across Lagos, Kano, and Rivers States through school engagement, healthcare facility outreach, WASH sensitisation, maternal hygiene education, infection prevention advocacy, and community-based hygiene promotion activities.