Corporate Social Responsibility:
August 2012
Principal, Reagan Memorial Baptist Girls Secondary School, Mrs T.O Amune, Executive Director and General Manager, Mobil Producing Nigeria, Mrs Gloria Essien-Danner, Representative of the President, Nigeria Baptist Mission, Rev. Dr. Olasupo Ayokunle and Public Affairs Manager, Mr. Kennie Obateru at the commissioning of the Intro-Tech Laboratory and toilet facilities donated to the school by Esso and NNPC
By Abimbola Lagbedu
Science and Technology will henceforth hold a new meaning for the lucky students of the Reagan Memorial Baptist Girls’ Secondary School, Yaba, Lagos, following the handing over of an ultra modern Introduction to Technology laboratory and toilet facilities by the Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria Limited (EEPNL), in conjunction with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). The project had cost the donors N24.2million.
Dating back to 2011, the project entailed a complete turn around of the school’s former impoverished laboratory which has now been transformed into a modern workshop, fitted with a full complement of tools for technical drawing, woodwork, electrical and building activities and computers.
The grateful Principal of the school, Mrs. Titilayo Amune, told journalists: “We have been agitating for these facilities for some time and they are coming at a time we need them the most. The importance of Science and Technology education cannot be overemphasized. With these facilities in place, the society can now have more girls go into the sciences.”
On the new toilet facilities, she affirmed: “With a population of 630 girls, we know the benefit of conveniences. We cannot appreciate our beneficiaries enough for providing us with the facilities to make teaching and learning a whole lot easier for us”
The General Manager, Public and Government Affairs of ExxonMobil Affiliates in Nigeria, Mrs. Gloria Essien-Danner, a former student of the school, said the donated facilities were intended to “enhance a conducive learning and teaching environment for the students and teachers.” The donors’ commitment to helping to develop intellectual capacity within Nigeria, she noted, informed the gesture.
Essien-Danner, who is due to retire from Mobil soon, revealed that in 2010, EEPNL/NNPC had spent over N100 million on the reconstruction of Obalende Primary school, Ijeh, Lagos. Besides, she noted that more students from the company’s adopted schools would, in the near future, have the opportunity to benefit from its annual national and international post graduate scholarship awards.
She said: “It is to the glory of God almighty that Reagan Memorial Baptist Girls Secondary School now has freshly constructed toilet facilities, consisting of six toilets and two bathroom compartments, four hand washing sinks, a new borehole and septic tank, with several soak-away systems.” According to her, while the multi-million ultra modern facilities have been a huge investment on the part of the donors, the school, should now take proper care of the facilities and equipment and ensure that they are put to good use.
In his remark, the Manager, Public Affairs, National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS), Mr. Kennie Obateru, who represented the Group General Manager, NAPIMS, Mr. Morrison Fiddi said: “NAPIMS and its partner, Esso, take education and capacity building very seriously. That is why the two bodies have continually made huge investments in infrastructural and human capacity development, particularly in the area of education, as part of their corporate social responsibility and sustainable development programmes spread across the country.”