PwC Nigeria Staff, Alumni donate N5m to less privileged through 5 for 5

Success Damian:

PwC Nigeria, a network of firms in 158 countries with over 250,000 people who are committed to delivering quality in assurance, advisory and tax services through the assistance of their Staff and Alumni has donated N5 million to less privileged Nigerians from their annual Walk for Charity held recently.

Held on October 28, the walk which was tagged “5for5” covered a distance of five kilometres and was aimed at raising funds for five selected charities. 

Each of the selected charity received a donation of one million naira from the firm. 

The benefitting charities this year include: Shelter for Abused Women and Children; Lady Atinuke Memorial Home; Street Child Care and Welfare Initiative; National Cancer Prevention Programme; Down Syndrome Foundation Nigeria.

  

The Charity Walk took off as early as 6.30am while staff and alumni gathered at the take-off point, adjourning the firm’s head office in Victoria Island with the Deputy Country Senior Partner, Tola Ogundipe leading the contingent, which included many of the firm’s partners, staff, alumni as well as the staff andinmates of the selected benefiting charities.

In his address after the Walk, Pedro Omontuemhen, Chief Operating Partner, PwC Nigeria said “Following the success and impact of the first edition last year, we decided to make the walk an annual event with a new set of five charities to benefit from the initiative this year. The nomination was done by our staff who alongside our alumni and partners, made voluntary donations to raise the funds for the five charities. This is one of the ways we show care and impact our community while being true to our purpose of building trust in society and solving important problems.”

In her speech prior to the walk, Obioma Ubah, Partner and Head of Corporate Responsibility, PwC Nigeria noted that the walk was a collaborative effort which provided an opportunity for staff and partners to network with the firm’s alumni, while promoting healthy living and give back to the community. She gave the list of this year’s beneficiaries to include Shelter for Abused Women and Children, Lady Atinuke Memorial Home, Street Child Care and Welfare Initiative, the National Cancer Prevention Programme and Down Syndrome Foundation Nigeria.

  

The walk, which progressed in a carnival like manner with music and dancing featured dance aerobics, physical exercises and other entertaining activities.

  

ICFN Lagos Chapter will bring unity among Ideato people, Ide Ernest Eze

Inauguration of Ideato Committee of Friends of Nigeria (ICFN) Lagos Chapter took place on Sunday, October 14, at Bikel Event Centre, Ago Palace Way. Ide Ernest Eze (Orabugwueze) Chairman of the club in Lagos State and other members of the club spoke to OHAMARA OBIAGERI and she reports.

The inauguration of the Ideato Committee of Friends of Nigeria

(I.C.F.N.) Lagos Chapter, to the new members, was a dream come true as members of the club from various branches gathered at the venue for the confirmation of the existence of the club

in Lagos.

With the inauguration, the new members were now entitled to all the benefits due for ICFN members. They can now use their logo, paraphernalia, and signs for which the club is known.

Speaking to the gathering Ide Chief Ernest Eze thanked members, he also thanked the traditional rulers from the South East for taking the pains to attend the occasion.

In his word “Today is very unique and symbolic as it marks an event of inauguration and induction of new members and new branch of Ideato Committee of friends of Nigeria (I.C.F.N) here in Lagos State.

“The establishment of the branch of the club here in Lagos State will bring the people of Ideato North and South L.G.A together under one umbrella, serve as an engine room for the meeting of our people here in Lagos State,” Eze said.

Eze spoke further, “I thank God for bringing us together and giving us the wisdom and vision to embark on this journey which I think will benefit and unite our people in Lagos. I also use this medium to encourage all our people here in Lagos to register with the club as membership of the club is replete with good tidings.

“I also express my appreciation to the members for their tireless efforts to make the occasion successful. I will not fail to give kudos to the ten pioneer members who laid the foundation stone for today’s occasion and finally the organizing committee for their handwork to ensure the success of this occasion,” Eze stated.

Sir Osinachi Nnedu (Onwa na Isiokpo) was confirmed a Patron of the club and said his role in the club is advisory. “Any time they need something from us financially or morally we will be there for them.”

On corporate social responsibility and empowerment he said “The club can form a pressure group and pressure government to bring development to Ideato, they can also empower people through philanthropic gestures” Nnedu stated.

Ide Chukwudi Ochomma (Nwadiohamma 1 of Umualaoma) the National President of the club while delivering his keynote said Ideato committee of Friends of Nigeria is a non-political but social cultural organization formed in 1989 by those called League of Founders.

Further Ochomma said “Our logo is Ekuwunato, a tripod, which represents Mbanasa, Nwasbosi and Arondizuogu clans. In Ideato Committee of Friends, we believe in one indivisible great Ideato.

Our aims and objectives include love, peace, mutual understanding, friendship and progress, welfare of members and Ideato nation, formation of unbiased political front for Ideato nation.”

He said membership is open to every meaning adult son of Ideato who must satisfy the requirement for it's membership.

He concluded by saying “I therefore urge every son of Ideato resident in Lagos to identity with this great and unique club, lets join hands and build our nation (Ideato). My candid advice to the interim Lagos executive, is to centralize the meeting venue to enable them to fish member from all parts of Lagos. To my beloved brothers and friends in Lagos branch, as you are inducted today, I urge you to be a branch/members that will promote the good corporate image of our club/nation here in Lagos and beyond, please accept my Congrats.’

Youth Empowerment Foundation trains children on self-reliance

Youth Empowerment Foundation, an organization devoted to training the girl-child with various programmes ranging from Sports, Education, Environment, Health, and Secured livelihood, on September 25, organized a Quiz programme at Rita Lori Hotel, Surulere, Lagos, to test the children from 16 schools in Lagos based on what they have learnt from the tutors. SUCCESS NNAJI reports.

The quiz was meant for the children who have been selected and trained based on the foundations goals; it was also designed to inculcate in them the spirit of sportsmanship.

According to Tolulope Osoba, Progamme Manager Youth Empowerment Foundation in an interview with Newworldnewsng said “Youth Empowerment Foundation works with young people and we have three offices in Nigeria, Lagos, Ibadan and Abuja.

“We have a project called Goal that is being partnered by Standard Chartered Bank. So what we are doing today is having a quiz Competition for this girls over a period of 10 months, we pick these girls from public schools and then we train them on life skills on football and taekwondo,” Osoba said.

She went further to say “So today we are having a quiz competition among the 16 schools in Lagos, they compete among themselves, we try to let them understand that you can compete healthily amongst yourselves, and whoever wins or loses, you are still friends. We inculcate in them the spirit of sportsmanship, a spirit of if you don’t win today, you will win tomorrow.’

Osoba stated that Goal Project started in Nigeria since 2010, adding that it is a global project and that they are in about 25 countries of the world.

On expansion of the project to other parts of Nigeria she stated that it is one step at a time.

Osoba disclosed that the group is a member of Child Protection Network, “Because there is no way you work with children that you will not make sure we are compliant with the child protection rules and regulations, even for our partners they make sure we sign the child protection policy.”

Speaking on modalities for picking the girls for training and empowerment Osoba stated, “We normally pick the girls when they come into the JS1 and usually about age group of 10 to 16, but that is not all, when they move to senior class we don’t just leave them, what we have done is we have two programmes, you can see some of our big girls, those are the girls we started with in JS1 in 2010,  and now they are now big girls and they have become what we called the Goal Champions. So we train and retrain them so they now help to train these girls in schools on sports and life skills. We have also trained them on vocational skills, so some of them you are seeing are hair dressers, bead-makers, Ankara designers, so we don’t just leave them.”

On the reason for choosing only the girls, she said “It is a girl empowerment project, but because of the persistent demand with partners, ministry of education, ministry of youth and sports, so what we have done this year is to pilot a project for the boys.

She also explained reason behind choice of the girls, “Though the choice of the girls is key because they said, train the boy, you train an individual, but train a girl yoxu train a nation, because they are the ones to continue to give birth, raise children, so it is key that a woman understands herself, she is self-aware, understands issues around her, be intellectually sound, financially independent, a woman that is not empowered is also a problem.

At the end of the Quiz competition, Wesley Girls College, Oyingbo, Yaba came tops, while 1^st and 2^nd runners up were Surulere Junior  Secondary School and  Community Junior Secondary, Surulere respectively. All of them were handsomely rewarded.