When Thomas Friedman quipped that the corporate social responsibility (CSR) of a business is to make profit, many knew he was being tongue in cheek.
These days, as more and more companies embrace the tenets of CSR, they are becoming more inclined to be perceived as responsible corporate citizens with an eye not just on the bottom-line but on their environment and the well-being of their sundry stakeholders.
Nigerian firms have not been shy in highlighting their CSR bonafides and nothing has brought out their milk of human kindness like the Ebola scourge.
Companies, from telecoms to manufacturing, oil and gas, as well as consulting, have been contributing cash, large and small, to support government’s on-going efforts to rein in the Ebola epidemic.
Last week, SEPLAT Petroleum Development Company Plc donated N20m to Lagos State government as its own contribution to the on-going efforts especially to support the Lagos Isolation Centre
Speaking during the occasion, Dr. Chioma Nwachuku, GM, External Affairs and Communications, noted that Seplat “appreciates the prompt setting up of the Lagos Isolation Centre and the pivotal role it has played in curtailing the spread of the disease..”
The event, held at the Lagos State Ministry of Health, also had Moses Onuwe, General Manager, Human Resources & Corporate Services, Seplat; Dr. Wale Hamed, Lagos State Commissioner for Special Duties; and Dr. Jide Idris, Lagos State Commissioner for Health, in attendance.
SEPLAT earlier donated N30m to the First Consultants Hospital in recognition of what Nwachuku said are “great sacrifices that this unfortunate outbreak has brought upon First Consultants Medical Centre – Lagos, the hospital where the EVD was first handled in Nigeria”.
The GM, External Affairs and Communications went on: “Due largely to the professionalism they displayed in handling this difficult case, the nation has managed to keep the spread of the disease reasonably under control, howbeit, at great cost in human and material assets to the hospital.”
Other corporate bodies that have supported the fight against Ebola include Total, comprising the downstream and upstream branches, which donated five brand new Ford Pick-up vans and electronic fuelling cards to the Ebola Emergency Operation Centre, Yaba, Lagos.
Shell donated an ambulance while a statement from the Minister of Health indicated that the Dangote Foundation contributed N152m to support the efforts of the Federal Government as they battle to contain the epidemic.
Tony Elumelu, Chairman of Heirs Holding and UBA, donated N50m while ANAP Foundation, founded by Mr. Atedo Peterside, informed the Minister of Health it would be supporting affected private hospitals to the tune of N100,000 per bed space. Peterside disclosed that the First Consultants Hospital where the index case was managed would be the first beneficiary and that the hospital would receive N4 million since its bed capacity is 40.
Telecoms giant, MTN, has not been left out. Reaching out through its MTN Foundation’s Community Support Project, the telecoms company donated personal protective equipment to Lagos State government.
Commenting on the donation, Chairman of MTN, Mr. Pascal Dozie, said: “MTN recognises the importance of collective effort and the role of the private sector in containing the spread and the impact of the disease and we take, very seriously, our responsibility to provide a service that is essential in a period of national emergency as we have found ourselves.”
Oando, on the other hand, launched, through its Oando Foundation, an Ebola Education Support Fund for Nigerian children who lost one or both of their parents to EVD and require financial support to continue their education. Explaining their rationale, the Director of the foundation, Tokunboh Durosaro, said, “Oando Foundation knew what the loss of a parent or both parents to EVD could cause to the future of a child.”
As a reader commented on a blog post recently, “if money could kill Ebola, Nigerian companies would have eradicated it by now.”
These days, as more and more companies embrace the tenets of CSR, they are becoming more inclined to be perceived as responsible corporate citizens with an eye not just on the bottom-line but on their environment and the well-being of their sundry stakeholders.
Nigerian firms have not been shy in highlighting their CSR bonafides and nothing has brought out their milk of human kindness like the Ebola scourge.
Companies, from telecoms to manufacturing, oil and gas, as well as consulting, have been contributing cash, large and small, to support government’s on-going efforts to rein in the Ebola epidemic.
Last week, SEPLAT Petroleum Development Company Plc donated N20m to Lagos State government as its own contribution to the on-going efforts especially to support the Lagos Isolation Centre
Speaking during the occasion, Dr. Chioma Nwachuku, GM, External Affairs and Communications, noted that Seplat “appreciates the prompt setting up of the Lagos Isolation Centre and the pivotal role it has played in curtailing the spread of the disease..”
The event, held at the Lagos State Ministry of Health, also had Moses Onuwe, General Manager, Human Resources & Corporate Services, Seplat; Dr. Wale Hamed, Lagos State Commissioner for Special Duties; and Dr. Jide Idris, Lagos State Commissioner for Health, in attendance.
SEPLAT earlier donated N30m to the First Consultants Hospital in recognition of what Nwachuku said are “great sacrifices that this unfortunate outbreak has brought upon First Consultants Medical Centre – Lagos, the hospital where the EVD was first handled in Nigeria”.
The GM, External Affairs and Communications went on: “Due largely to the professionalism they displayed in handling this difficult case, the nation has managed to keep the spread of the disease reasonably under control, howbeit, at great cost in human and material assets to the hospital.”
Other corporate bodies that have supported the fight against Ebola include Total, comprising the downstream and upstream branches, which donated five brand new Ford Pick-up vans and electronic fuelling cards to the Ebola Emergency Operation Centre, Yaba, Lagos.
Shell donated an ambulance while a statement from the Minister of Health indicated that the Dangote Foundation contributed N152m to support the efforts of the Federal Government as they battle to contain the epidemic.
Tony Elumelu, Chairman of Heirs Holding and UBA, donated N50m while ANAP Foundation, founded by Mr. Atedo Peterside, informed the Minister of Health it would be supporting affected private hospitals to the tune of N100,000 per bed space. Peterside disclosed that the First Consultants Hospital where the index case was managed would be the first beneficiary and that the hospital would receive N4 million since its bed capacity is 40.
Telecoms giant, MTN, has not been left out. Reaching out through its MTN Foundation’s Community Support Project, the telecoms company donated personal protective equipment to Lagos State government.
Commenting on the donation, Chairman of MTN, Mr. Pascal Dozie, said: “MTN recognises the importance of collective effort and the role of the private sector in containing the spread and the impact of the disease and we take, very seriously, our responsibility to provide a service that is essential in a period of national emergency as we have found ourselves.”
Oando, on the other hand, launched, through its Oando Foundation, an Ebola Education Support Fund for Nigerian children who lost one or both of their parents to EVD and require financial support to continue their education. Explaining their rationale, the Director of the foundation, Tokunboh Durosaro, said, “Oando Foundation knew what the loss of a parent or both parents to EVD could cause to the future of a child.”
As a reader commented on a blog post recently, “if money could kill Ebola, Nigerian companies would have eradicated it by now.”
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