L-R: Director General of the Nigerian Insurers Association (NIA), Mrs. Yetunde Ilori, Chairman, Mr. Tope Smart and Mr. Kola Fashoyin representing the Tutor-General and Permanent Secretary, Education District 2 at the Commissioning of the School Hall of Baptist Junior High School, Obanikoro which was undertaken by the Association.
*Tasks organizations on corporate social responsibility
Worried by the deteriorating learning condition and dilapidated infrastructure in Baptist Junior Secondary School Obanikoro, Lagos, the Nigerian Insurers Association has renovated the School Hall to improve the learning condition of pupils and provide a convivial environment for advancement of knowledge.
Speaking at the commissioning of the project which was renovated by Nigerian Insurers Association as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility Initiatives on Monday in Lagos, Chairman of Nigerian Insurers Association, Mr. Tope Smart expressed hope that the facility will be put to good use and charged the school authorities and students to maintain the facility so as to encourage other corporate bodies to invest in similar projects in the school.
The chairman said the Association was moved by the inhuman learning condition in the school which is dotted by dilapidated classrooms, leaking roof and other decrepit facilities and made the intervention to assist the pupils fulfill their academic potentials in a conducive learning environment even as he emphasized the need for a strong maintenance culture in Nigeria to protect the facility from decay.
He said” As a responsible corporate organization, we were moved by the unfavourable learning condition we met during the global money week; the hall was in a state of disrepair that no meaningful activity can take place there. So, when the management of the school approached us for assistance, we had to oblige them and we are happy that we did. This is our modest contribution to the advancement of learning and we are sure the students and teachers appreciate this intervention”.
Emphasizing the need for the staff and students of the school to keep the facility in top shape, he noted that there is a need for all and sundry to change their attitude towards maintenance of public facilities as lack of good maintenance culture remained a huge problem in the country.
“We need to change our attitude to maintenance of our valued assets and change the narrative in this regard so as to give confidence to corporate organizations who would like to embark on CSR initiatives. The problem with us in Nigeria is that we do not have a strong maintenance culture. I think you can be an agent of change in this regard so that when we come here in two or three years, we would be happy that you have kept faith by keeping this hall in good condition” he added.
He also used the opportunity to educate the teachers on the need for insurance for individual and co-operate organizations describing insurance as a restorer of hope in time of need.
In her remark, the outgoing principal of the school, Dr. Mrs. Adebisi Babatola thanked the Association for uplifting the learning condition of the students by renovating the hall, adding that the Association has challenged other corporate organizations on the need to embark on corporate social responsibility initiatives within area of operations.
The brief ceremony was spiced with cultural displays by the students of the school in appreciation of the Association’s gesture.
Present at the event were the Director General of the Association, Mrs. Yetunde Ilori and the management staff of the Association while Mr. Kola Fashoyin represented the Tutor General and Permanent Secretary in Education District 2.
