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NEWS
P&G Targets 15bn Litres of Clean Water by 2020 Dele Ogbodo in Abuja The Assistant Director, Global Government Relations, Sub Sahara Africa, Procter and Gamble (P&G), Ms. Temitope Iluyemi, on Wednesday said the company was committed to delivering 15 billion liters of clean water around the world by 2020. Iluyemi, made the disclosure at the company’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
ceremony in Abuja to mark its 10 billion liters of safe water supply for children within the last 12 years. According to her, the Society for Family Health, Foundation for Partnership Initiatives in Niger Delta and Action against Hunger, the firm’s partners distributed over 175 million liters of clean drinking water since inception, adding that the outfit delivers its water purifier to people who lack clean water on regular basis.
“In 2004, after much research, the company created the Children Safe Drinking Water (CSDW) programme, a not for profit effort aimed at providing clean drinking water to disadvantage communities around the world.” she said. As part of its CSR initiative, she, said P&G has found its greatest inspiration in transformation of lives with its products empowering people and communities all
over the world. According to her, access to clean water is one of the greatest challenges confronting humanity, adding that more than a thousand children die every day from disease caused by unclean water, which is more than the deaths from HIV/AIDS and malaria. “Nearly 1,000 children die every day from diseases caused by drinking unsafe water.” she added. In a remark, the former Head
of Service of (HoS) and the Country WASH Ambassador, Mrs. Ebele Okeke, commended P&G for its efforts in providing safe water for children in 75 countries.While acknowledging that schools in Delta, Bayelsa and Rivers states have benefited from the initiative, she added that most children, especially those in the rural areas die young because of consumption of untreated water. She however urged govern-
ment to introduce the study of Hygiene and Sanitation into the school curriculum, adding that the introduction of hand washing initiative at schools, homes, churches and mosques hands at intervals will reduce deaths from communicable diseases by 50 percent. Okeke called on government to increase its budgetary allocation to relevant agencies involved in water project and supply.
Deloitte Nigeria Advises Organisations on New Trends Peter Uzoho Deloitte Nigeria has identified key changes taking place globally, in both the public and private sectors, which organisations can leverage on and perform better. Presenting a report of a survey conducted by Deloitte Nigeria, on the Nigeria Human Capital Trends 2016, entitled, “The New Organisation: Different by Design,” the Human Capital Consulting Partner, Deloitte Nigeria, Mr. Joseph Olofinsola, highlighted the fundamental elements of shift from the old ways of organisational structure, practice and operation as relates to human capital. The report has over 7000 respondents spread across 140 countries of the world, including Nigeria. Olofinsola said based on the report, there is need to have strong sense of mission, purpose and culture, as executive bring people together by building trust, sharing information and monitoring employee commitment through an “always on” engagement process. It also urged organisation to create a new work place devoid of unproductive official rules, so that young and vibrant employees would be able to contribute directly to the organisation. The report identified global top five trends in organisations and their percentages, which ought to be adopted both by the private and public sectors. These
include: organisational design (71 per cent), leadership (60 per cent), engagement (59 per cent) learning (52 per cent) and human resources (51 per cent). However, discussing some of the findings of in the report the Country Organiser and Human Resources Director, Lafarge, Mrs. Fidelia Osime, who spoke on the importance of learning and improvement in the context of Nigeria’s economic setting, said: “Learning has become much more important. It is evolving and has become more practical. Learning is about coaching, mentoring and it is also about global relevance. So, here in Nigeria, the young ones want to become much more relevant globally. And they even want to be mobile, be self-employed and have their own personal career.” On his part, the Executive Director and Country Human Resources Manager, Mobil Producing Nigeria, Mr. Udom Udoyo said that every organisation leader should always endeavour to maintain good employee relation, while providing a platform for them to have interactions concerning important matters of the organisation without fear. He also urged leaders to, while on seat, ensure that they nurture those that would take after them when they leave the scene as that is the only way there can be sustainability in generating good leaders.
FirstBank Raises the Bar for SMEs Nume Ekeghe Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) have been considered pivotal to national development. However, to what extent do they play this role in ensuring the sustainable economic growth of the nation, especially at a time when the Nigerian government is looking to diversify its income stream, leaves much to be desired. Presently, there are many SME entrepreneurs with a myriad of unaccomplished aspirations and deflated business goals First Bank of Nigeria Limited, made these observations in a statement, noted that it has over the years demonstrated an unwavering commitment to the business success of SMEs in Nigeria. ’’The Bank has a cocktail of products and bespoke solutions, specifi-
cally designed to help grow and sustain SMEs; enable them play out their business scripts as well as fulfill their goals and aspirations. In addition, the Bank offers advisory services that are tailored to meet the needs and aspirations of their SME customers. FirstBank is enthusiastic about the SME segment as one of the strategic platforms to stimulate economic development. Some of the Bank’s SME products include: Contract and Invoice Discounting Finance – This enables the SME seamlessly fund bigger contracts. The product is designed to finance contractors who need immediate funding for working capital requirements while awaiting payment for goods/services supplied or contracts executed for reputable companies.’’
ENDORSEMENT
L-R: Director General, Nigerian Institute of Medical Research, Lagos, Professor Innocent Ujah; Executive Director, Nigerian Heart Foundation, Lagos, Dr. Kingsley Akinroye; Marketing Director, Food & Nutrition, PZ Wilmar, Mr. Kalyan Bandyopadhyay and Head, Department of Human Nutrition, University of Ibadan, Professor Tola Atinmo, presenting the new bottle of Mamador cooking oil after being approved endorsed by Nigerian Heart Foundation in Lagos… recently
Flour Mill Boss Appointed Kaduna Investment AgencyVice Chair Following the successes recorded at the Kaduna Economic and Investment Summit (KADInvest), the Kaduna State Government has appointed Flour Mills boss, John Coumantaros as vice-chairman of its investment promotion agency, KADIPA. The corporate titan leads a team of private sector players that will, under the chairmanship of Deputy Governor Barnabas Yusuf Bala, work to realise the investment goals of the Kaduna State Government. Other members of the KADIPA board are Hajiya Farida Dankaka, Mrs. Adama Jibrin, Alhaji Abdulkadir Idris Mayana, and Samaila Barau Maigoro. As part of the further institutionalisation of KADIPA, the Government announced the
appointment of an executive team for the agency. Leading the team as Executive Secretary is Gambo Hamza, with Hafiz Bayeroheading investor relations and Hadiza Hamza public-private partnerships and privatisation. The finance and administration function will be led by Shizzer Bada. The Kaduna State Government has also announced the constitution of the boards of four other agencies. These are the Kaduna Facility Management Agency (KADFAMA), the Kaduna Geographic Information Service (KADGIS), the Kaduna State Internal Revenue Service (KADIRS) and the Kaduna State Bureau of Pensions. Alhaji Ahmed Tijjani Ramalan, businessman and senior politician, will chair the board of KADFAMA, the new
agency that is charged with the maintenance of all government assets. Other members of the KADFAMA board are: Abdulrahman Garba, Yahaya Baba Pate and Mrs. Rebecca Barde. The management of the agency is led by the Director-General, Ibrahim Hamza, while Aishatu Mohammed Abubakar has been named Executive Director. The board of KADGIS is chaired by Engineer Aminu Aliyu, Mrs. Deborah Iliya, Aminu Mahmood and Mrs Aisha Indo Rimi as members. The members of the board of the Kaduna State Bureau of Pensions are Mrs. Halima Lenti Hyet, Mrs Hadiza TukurAhmed, and Mrs Habiba Kolo, with Mr. Dan Ndackson as Executive Secretary. Alhaji Mukhtar Ahmed has been nominated as Chairman
of the Kaduna Internal Revenue Service (KADIRS), pending confirmation by the Kaduna State House of Assembly. He is the acting chairman of the agency. His executive management team consists of Ahmed Salihu, Mrs. Esther Jimen, Thomas Ishaku and Ango Liman as Executive Directors. Mr. Francis Kozah is appointed Secretary/ Legal Adviser. Other members of the Board of KADIRS are: Abubakar Rilwan, Salisu Tanko Wusono and Mrs. Joyce Tagwai representing the three senatorial districts; Dr.Alimi Bello, former chairman of the Kaduna Chamber of Commerce, and Aisha Mujaddadi of GEMS-3, are the private sector representatives while Yahaya Shinko, Ben Kure and Engineer Mohammed Usman are representing the chairmen of the 23 local government councils.
10 Companies Emerge Winners of ‘Great Place to Work Ten companies, at the weekend emerged winners of the Great Place To Work, (GPTW) Nigeria awards. These awards include: The Bright Spots award, a new category of awards which was introduced to recognise those organisations that are engaging with their employees, customers and communities in deep and authentic ways. Three organisations were recognised for this award; Courteville Business Solutions, SANOFI Healthcare
and iSON BPO. Eight organisations made it to the list of Best Companies to Work for in Nigeria 2016. The organisations include: EMC Information System Nigeria Limited, which came tops, Courteville Business Solutions, which also won in the Bright Spots Award category, came second in the Best Companies to Work for in Nigeria. Other companies thst made the list include: Guinness Nigeria which emerged in the third
place position, SC Johnson took the fourth position; Microsoft Nigeria, Poise Nigeria; Konga. com, and Chemical and Allied Products, in that order. This year’s edition, the fourth in the series, also had the “Best Practices Awards”. These are companies that delivered excellence in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), People Leadership, Employee Wellness, and introducing a new category under this, the organisation that caters to the needs of
Millennials. iSON Group, one of the winners in the Bright Sport Awards category, also won the award for excellence in CSR, Konga.com, which came seventh in the Best Companies to Work for in Nigeria, smiled home with the Best Company to work for Millennials. Again, Courteville Business Solutions got the award for excellence in People Leadership while Guinness Nigeria Plc won the award for delivering excellence in Employees’ Wellness.