By IJEOMA UKAZU
Building an inclusive and thriving community allows everyone to have fair access to modern and basic amenities for survival. These amenities impact the community’s livelihood and well-being.
Access to resources like pipe-borne water, electricity, good road, and sanitation facilities among others provide opportunities to connect people within a neighbourhood and help tackle socio-economic inequalities.
Solving these basic needs requires action through policy solutions that would drive the needed impact directly improving the health and well-being of society.
A report by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) says about 1.8 million Nigerians living in North East lack access to basic amenities. This situation, however, cut across the entire country, especially in most rural and semi-urban areas.
A glance into the UN passport on children’s rights, Article 24 states that “Every child has the right to the best possible standard of health and medical care, to clean water, nutritious food and clean safe environment in which to live.”
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said that the consequences of unsafe water, sanitation, and hygiene on children can be deadly. Over 700 children under age five die every day of diarrhoeal diseases due to a lack of appropriate Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) services globally.
In Nigeria, a UNICEF 2021 report says, at least 70,000 Nigerian children under the age of five die every year due to poor access to WASH services.
As a trailblazer in creating shared value, especially in communities where its business is located, Nestlé Nigeria early in the year commissioned a WASH project in a school in Ogun State, South West Nigeria.
The provision of access to water, sanitation, and hygiene facility for learners and educators of the All Saints Primary School, Owode which according to experts will greatly improve healthy hydration and in turn will improve learners’ cognition and attention, reduce tiredness and irritability, as well as curb disease spread.
Nestlé said the facilities will serve over 500 individuals including educators, learners, and families within the community which is in furtherance to the evidence that the company is committed to enhancing the quality of life and building thriving communities closest to its operations.
The food and beverage company has over the past three years delivered projects aimed at providing clean and safe drinking water as well as WASH facilities for individuals, families, and communities where it operates. Within this period, 11 WASH projects have been donated in Ogun State and Abaji in the FCT.
In 2021 alone, the company commissioned four water and sanitation facilities in schools around her operations, reaching over 1,600 learners and educators.
While speaking at the event, Nestlé Nigeria’s Corporate Communications and Public Affairs Manager, Victoria Uwadoka, said, “We recognize the fact that water and sanitation are essential to life and wellbeing. They are, therefore, at the core of improving livelihood in any community. This is why Nestlé Nigeria has been at the forefront of actions to increase access to water and sanitation facilities in the communities closest to its operations, especially in the Nestlé for Healthier Kids (N4HK) beneficiary schools.”
Continuing, Uwadoka said, “The project we are commissioning brings the total number of Nestlé donated Community WASH facilities in Ogun State to 14. This is one more step towards attaining our objective of making access to water a reality in every school within the N4HK program in support of Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG-6), which is ensuring the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all. We will continue to work with our partners, especially the Ogun State Universal Education Board, SUBEB to increase availability.”
She explained that Nestlé for Healthier Kids is a school-based nutrition and health education program built on four pillars: Healthy Nutrition, Healthy Hydration, Physical Activity, and Hygiene, adding that hygiene, being one of the pillars of N4HK, cannot be taught or practiced without basic water and sanitation facilities on site.
While giving his remarks at the commissioning, the Board Chairperson of Ogun State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Dr. Femi Majekodunmi, said: “It is gratifying to note that this worthwhile project which is one of many embarked upon by Nestlé in continuation of the company’s commitment to ensure that all the 20 schools within the Nestlé for Healthier Kids program are provided with water and sanitation facilities to promote healthier lives among the children.”
Dr. Majekodunmi then called on the PTA as well as the school authorities to judiciously utilize and ensure that the facilities are well-secured and preserved for continuous use.
On his part, the Honourable Commissioner of Education, Science, and Technology, Prof. Abayomi Arigbabu, ably represented by Mr. Oluwatosin Sofoluwe, Deputy Zonal Education Officer for Obafemi Owode, while commending Nestlé for partnering with the Ogun State Government on the provision of facilities for public schools stated that children’s ability to learn can be affected by inadequate water, sanitation, and hygiene conditions.
Also speaking at the event, the Program Manager, of Ogun State Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency, Mr. Sola Ogumbo commended Nestlé’s support and investments in building thriving communities, particularly in the WASH sector of the state. He stated that this aligns with the commitment of the Ogun State government to meet SDG goal 6, ensuring water and sanitation for all by 2030.
The elated primary 5 students of the school expressed their appreciation for the provision of WASH facilities within the school premises.
Education Scholarship Scheme For Host Communities
While still being the game changer to host communities by positively impacting lives, an elated beneficiary of Nestlé Nigeria’s scholarship scheme in the tertiary category who is a Medical Student of the University of Lagos, Rereloluwa Obafemi-Moses, in appreciation said “I am delighted to be selected as one of the beneficiaries of the scholarship scheme. This means a lot to me as it will further motivate and increase my commitment to my academics. I appreciate Nestlé Nigeria for its investment in young Nigerians.”
Nestle Nigeria’s scholarship scheme for young people was launched in 2020 for the host communities of the company’s factories located at Sagamu Interchange, Ogun State, and Abaji, Federal Capital Territory, and was extended to include the host community of the company’s third factory in Agbara, Ogun State.
In Sub-Saharan Africa, several factors including; inadequate infrastructure, lack of opportunities, accessibility, and affordability are top issues limiting access to quality education.
Recent statistics by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) say Nigeria has about 20 million out-of-school children. As such, this scholarship scheme by Nestle is a welcome development as it aligns with the Sustainable Development Goal (SDGs) 4 – ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all by 2030.
The scheme is positioned to enable deserving students of her host communities to attain their educational and personal aspirations through financial sponsorship and is categorised into two segments -senior secondary and tertiary, and cover funds for tuition, accommodation, uniform, books, and other expenses for the duration of beneficiaries’ education in the respective categories.
Speaking at the event to introduce the Nestlé Scholarship scheme in Agbara, the Corporate Communications and Public Affairs Manager of Nestlé Nigeria PLC, Mrs. Victoria Uwadoka said, “In a nation with a high youth population like ours, it is clear that communities cannot thrive if they fail to offer a future for younger generations. Nestlé Community Scholarship Scheme aims to contribute towards creating a future for youth by preparing them to participate in the industry. The focus on science and technology is deliberate to build much-needed local capacity.
“We are therefore pleased to announce the extension of the scheme to deserving youths in Agbara. The scholarship awards cover the cost of tuition, accommodation, uniforms, and books for the duration of beneficiaries’ studies so long as they attain the minimum required academic performance each year.”
History Has Being Made
“A modest history is being recorded as Nestlé Nigeria PLC has taken a giant step by extending its love and generosity to better the lots of underprivileged and deserving indigenous students of the Agbara community. One of the most important scholarship benefits to our society is that it gives us engineers, doctors, academics, lawyers, and scientists from backgrounds that ordinarily could not have met up with the financial burdens of education,” says the Honourable Commissioner for Education, Science, and Technology in Ogun State, Professor Abayomi Arigbabu, who was represented by the Zonal Education Officer, Ado-Odo Ota, Mr. Olugbenga Kikisuhu.
The delighted Alagbara of Agbara Kingdom, HRM Oba (Barr.) Lukman Jayeola Agunbiade, Olute III said, “This scholarship scheme is a laudable initiative by Nestlé Nigeria PLC. I am delighted to be part of this event promoting the education and empowerment of youth in Agbara. The company has positively impacted the community over the years and we have enjoyed a good relationship.”
Through the scheme, Nestlé continues to help build the next generation of science and technology professionals. This is another of the many ways through which the company Creates Shared Value to help build thriving communities.