Chinyere Okoye
3 March 2008
Lagos — As part of effort to build healthy and stronger future leaders in the country as well as expand the scope of its social responsibility, one of Nigeria's oil giants is providing health facilities to the youths in some parts of Lagos in addition to bringing the HIV/AIDS awareness campaign closer to the communities.
At crises moments in some Nigeria cities security personnel could become targets of criminal gangs or mobs. On such occasions, it is not unusual for security personnel, particularly Policemen to quickly shelter in any nearby refuge, swap their uniforms for civilian garb and run for safety in disguise. The action is an age long safety and survival trick.
This scene of swift change of attires was replayed severally in Agura and other Ikorodu communities recently. Was there strife in the area? No. The community was not embroiled in any communal crisis, and security personnel in the area were not in any danger. It was primary school children who were freely trading their school uniforms for uniforms of other neighbouring schools as Chevron; one of the oil giants in the country was implementing a de-worming exercise among school children in the community. They did everything to benefit from the exercise.
At the event, pupils of some schools in the area discovered, as they were returning home, that the de-worming exercise which was being administered in their community had not come to their school. For the Agura and other communities in the area, it was a day they would not be forgotten in a long while, for its many positive impacts.
The de-worming exercise was graced by dignitaries ranging from the Lagos state government to the community leaders including Mrs. O. O. Shotomiwa, Mrs. Oluwagbemiga Benson of the Universal Basic Education and the Ikorodu Local Government Chairman, Alhaji Junaid Owokorodu. Also present was the representative of His Royal Majesty, Oba Fatai Adeboye Oresanya - Ladeja II - the Alajede of Ijede and the Independent Power Plant Stakeholders Committee Chairman, Alhaji S. A. Amusa.
The impact of the exercise on the community was also reflected in large turn-out of no fewer than 2,000 members of the communities including youths, mothers and their children. The success was crowned with de-worming of no fewer than 1000 children at the end of a brief opening ceremony at the Methodist Primary School, Agura. Beneficiaries were mostly students of Methodist Primary School, Agura, Anglican Primary School, Ijede and Anwarul Islam School Ijede, the primary targets of the exercise. Other beneficiaries were a handful of pupils of other schools in Ipakan, Ijede and Egbin all in Ikorodu Local Government Area who, fearing they may not get such an opportunity in the near future employed various tricks to participate in the exercise.
The exercise got off to a frenetic start after a colourful ceremony before the crowd of community leaders and dignitaries that converged on the Methodist Primary School, Agura. The ceremony afforded guests opportunity to express appreciation for the community partnership tradition of the NNPC/Chevron Joint Venture, in general, and the thoughtfulness of the oil giant's management in implementing the exercise in the community.
The Chairman/Managing Director of Chevron Nigeria Limited, Fred Nelson a speech presented by Mr. Joseph Jakpa, PGPA Manager, Lagos said the implementation of the de-worming campaign programme was derived from the company's commitment to being a socially responsible corporate body.
"Health and social development feature prominently in our community engagement programme. This is more important when we realise the need to help this great country build the necessary manpower as we face present and future challenges," he said.
He said the mass de-worming exercise was "part of Chevron's health intervention programmes for its community stakeholders and is aimed at ridding children between the ages of six and 12 years of worms. It is important because de-worming is a preventive measure against other diseases."
Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris who was also represented by Mrs. Shotomiwa expressed his appreciation to Chevron for its partnership with the communities, noting that a community with healthy children is a healthy one. He challenged other corporate bodies to emulate the Chevron way of enhancing healthy living through similar programmes. "De-worming is due to environment which is hazardous to health," he reiterated.
Chairman of Ikorodu Local Government Area, Alhaji Junaid Owokorodu observed that Chevron had always supported the communities of its areas of operations in different projects. He therefore stated that Chevron's visit with this campaign was not strange to him and the communities. The representative of Oba Oresanya also appreciated Chevron and its support to the community. He pledged their support to Chevron Nigeria Limited, while Amusa prayed for the companies' growth and continuous success story.
With the official ceremonies ended, the de-worming commenced. This only took place, however, after an insightful presentation by Esther Ukubeyinje of CNL Medical division, on the essence of de-worming children. She explained that it was an important exercise for children who live in environment with sanitary challenges, which make them vulnerable to the infestation of worms. According to her, "worms have negative impact on the healthy growth of children and must therefore be eliminated as appropriate for the children to have a new lease of life".
Officials of the NNPC/Chevron JV retreated at the end of the exercise, leaving the community with a lot to talk about for a long while. But Chevron was not done with the communities yet. Barely two weeks after the de-worming exercise officials of the company in collaboration with Global AIDS Advocacy were in the communities create awareness on HIV/AIDS.
The crowd at the Methodist Primary School was fewer and more subdued, as expected because the issue of HIV/AIDS is often humbling. Yet, those present would not forget the key messages that HIV was not a death sentence and HIV positive people should be respected like all others and encouraged to lead a normal life. Key messages on HIV Prevention were also passed around.
A source at the Oil giant noted that the campaign was organised in the community ahead of the construction of the Independent Power Plant in the area, as the project was likely to have tremendous impact on the economy of the area. About 2,000 people are projected to be attracted to the area for employment or business. "The influx of people to the area could raise the risk exposure of residents to the HIV virus. The wise and proper thing to do is to raise awareness of the threat of the virus and, hopefully, mitigate its possible spread within the communities," he said.
Chevron has already facilitated the signing of a three-year development plan for the various communities by the leadership of Agura Ipakan, Ijede and Egbin communities. These plans were developed by the communities with the assistance of non-governmental organisations after a sustainable livelihood systems assessment exercise funded by Chevron's Agura Power Generation Project. This is one of Chevron's plans towards improving the well being of the people.
Chevron's health and social development intervention programmes cover a wide spectrum of activities ranging from community healthcare, containment of malaria, HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and other ailments in the company's areas of operation and other parts of Nigeria.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 This Day. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
