Nielsen donates borehole, library to school

As part of efforts aimed at touching lives of people and making positive contribution to the society where it operates, Nielsen Nigeria, a member of the global brand offering marketing, research and consumer insights for businesses, has extended its philanthropic gestures to pupils of Local Government Primary School, Ikeja, Lagos.

The company donated a library, borehole and other items to pupils of the school, saying it was in fulfillment of its annual corporate social responsibility activities, tagged ‘Nielsen Global Impact Day (NGID).

The school, located in Ikeja, currently has 280 pupils and 30 teachers who were affected by lack of water and good library, but Nielsen Nigeria has meet their pressing needs. The company also donated goody bags containing useful hygiene items to the pupils.

Lampe Omoyele, managing director of Nielsen West Africa, said the company deeply cares about contributing to its society through initiatives such as this.

“At Nielsen, we are keen about impacting the lives of people, community in our environment. We recognise that the government cannot do it all alone, so we are proud to lend support that goes a long way to touch the lives of people,” he said.

“We realise that water is a necessity; that is why we renovated the borehole to provide water. Also important to these kids is reading. When they have access to good books and library, they learn properly so we donated books and renovated the library.”

Elizabeth Akapo, assistant head teacher of the school, expressed gratitude to Nielsen for providing the facilities.

“Pupils hitherto would go outside the school premises far away to get their drinkable water every day because the borehole was out of order. Water is an essential necessity so the pupils and teachers need it.

“They need water after meals and even for other uses while in the school, but the borehole had stopped working for months. With the boreholes restored by Nielsen, it is such a relief and delight for teachers and pupils.

“On the other hand, our school library was not pleasant to pupils to come in and read, as it had old text books that were not in the curriculum. So the company, out of concern, renovated the library to make it appealing to pupils and equipped it with textbooks needed by pupils in line with the curriculum.

“Now, pupils would be motivated to use the facility because it is attractive and well-furnished. We deeply thank Nielsen for the love, care and support they have given to us.”

Bolanle Shittu, education secretary, Ikeja Local government, also praised Nielsen Nigeria for touching the lives of pupils in the primary school. She noted that she is a product of the school, which was founded in 1952.

“The school has been receiving support from many people and organisations, but Nielsen’s impact was outstanding because it made so much impact in the lives of pupils and teachers.”

Some of the kids expressed appreciation to Nielsen Nigeria for alleviating their plight and giving them hope. Favour Onoja, a primary six pupil, described the donations as timely and important, while Sunday Babatunde of Primary 5 noted that he felt so special and loved to be cared for by Nielsen Nigeria.

The pupils also entertained the Nielsen Team and other guests present with traditional dance, a playlet on gender discrimination and a debate on the topic ‘Females are better than males.’

Other members of the Nielsen Nigeria team led by Omoyele include Omolola Oyebola, associate director, human resource West Africa; and Ada-Obi Okafor, quality control and training manager.

Guests present at the occasion were Muritala Mogaji, chairman, School-Based Management Committee (SBMC); Ade Abatan, director, social mobilisation department, Ikeja local government; Patrick Souza and Lanre Aina, both from the Public-Private Partnership (PPP), Lagos SUBEB.