Unilever Nigeria Donates N5m to Sokoto,Plateau States
Unilever Nigeria Plc recently donated Five Million Naira (N5M) in respect of corporate social responsibility programmes in Sokoto and Plateau states. The amount is made up of two million Naira.to Sight Savers Interna-tional and three million Naira to WaterAid, two NGOs which the company works closely with.
At the donation ceremony of two million Naira (N2M) to Sight Savers International for the Prevention of Blindness through eradication of trachoma (a virulent eye disease ~ in Sokoto State on the 20th July, the Special Adviser on Health and Medical Services to the governor; Alhaji Abubakar Tambuwal praised the efforts of Unilever Nigeria for coming to the rescue of the people of Sokoto State through the Trachoma Eradication Programme. He appealed to other corporate bodies in Nigeria to emulate Unilever Nigeria by coming to the assistance of Sokoto State in other areas of need. Speaking at the ceremony Mr. Yemi Adeboye, Unilever Nigeria's Corporate Relations Manager said that the company is committed to touching lives positively whe-iiever and wnerever the vpportur;ity calls hence
Nigeria pledged a donation of six million Naira (N6M) over three years in year 2003, to ensure the success of this programme. This latest donation is therefore the second instalment of the annual Two Million Naira donation.
Speaking at the ceremony, Dr. Mrs. Elizabeth Elhassan; the Country Representative of Sight Savers International, revealed that four Eye Lid Surgeons have been trained, a total of l, 104 eye surgeries performed while 10,000 people have received antibiotics treatment courtesy of Unilever's donation. Other dignitaries at the Sokoto ceremony were Dr. Khaliru Alhassan and Alhaji Bature Shinkafi, Director of Medical Services and Permanent Secretary respectively State Ministry of Health.
In Jos on the 28tt July, another donation of three million, one hundred and eighty thousand Naira (N3, 180,000) was made to WaterAid, an international NGO with specialisation in provision of potable water and hygiene education. At the donation ceremony, the Secretary to the State Government; Mr. John Gobak said that the government and people of Plateau State are highly appreciative of the donation of boreholes, wells, latrines and hygiene education campaigns by Unilever Nigeria in the past four years. Speaking at the same ceremony Mrs. Charity Dandak WaterAid Project Coordinator for Plateau State said that with Unilever's donation in the past four years, the targeted communities have recorded drastic reduction of incidence of diarrhoea as a result of the hygiene education programme, have improved access to supply of potable water, and also improved capacity for water management and advocacy. In his own speech at the ceremony, Mr. Yemi Adeboye said that this years donation is specifically for construction of 50 Deep Wells, 500 latrines, and 50 Community/Schools Hygiene Education and Hand Washing Campaigns. He said further that Unilever Nigeria has touched lives of about 250,000 people in Plateau State in the last four years through the company's donations.
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