Employees of Oando Plc have donated relief materials to victims of flood in Rivers and Bayelsa states respectively.
Oando employees donated food and non-perishable items such as bags of rice; cartons of noodles; disinfectant; mosquito treated nets; clothing to over 2,000 displaced families in some communities as well as those in Government-approved camps for internally displaced people (IDPs) in their host communities of Rivers and Bayelsa states.
The employee-led initiative is grounded in their realization and acceptance that the government cannot achieve an inclusive and sustainable society alone. Citizens and organisations must work alongside governments to support the building of the society we all desire.
The initiative is further rooted in the company’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) strategy that builds upon the collective strengths of its people and partners as good corporate citizens to power prosperity and long term growth within its host communities.
Speaking on the initiative, an Oando employee, Olayemi Olomo, said, “I believe strongly in helping people in need. Initiatives of this nature have been my passion for over 5 years, and that’s part of the culture here at Oando.”
Inikpi Okutachi, another employee of the company said: “I appreciate how Oando encourages and stands behind its communities, it’s inspiring. I couldn’t help but follow in the steps of the company by making a donation when the need arose.”
Akinbambo Ibidapo-Obe, General Manager Commercial, Oando Energy Resources said: “It’s not very often that you find yourself in a company with people who share the same values as you do. I’ve participated in every single employee philanthropy that the company has embarked on and I pledge to continue to do so. Natural disasters do not discriminate; any one of us, our family, our friends could be in the same situation one day and I hope people will rally to support me or them, the same way the Oando team is doing today.”
Last year, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) confirmed that flooding across 16 States and 87 Local Government Areas (LGAs) in Central and Southern Nigeria caused 199 deaths and 1,036 injuries. In addition, 176,299 people were internally displaced; 3,544 houses destroyed; 150,285 hectares of agricultural land destroyed and a further 826,403 of the population were to varying degrees negatively impacted.
It would recall that in the first quarter of 2018, Oando employees, as part of its ‘Month of Love’ initiative donated school supplies such as educational books to encourage learning and reading, school bags, school furniture, raincoats in preparation for the rainy season, and other items to aid educational development to three public primary schools in Gbagada Schools Complex.
In commemoration of World Blood Donor Day of the same year, Oando employees donated blood to save lives in partnership with LifeBank an e-health company connecting blood banks with hospitals. The objective of the blood drive was to bridge the blood shortage gap in Nigeria and dispel myths around blood donation.
