Toxic overload; the executive’s nemesis.

(Standing tall, staying strong and being fit for life.)

With

Kieran Gozie Enechi

enechi2003@yahoo.com

Contrary to popular fad, the worst killers of good radiant health are not the rough things you eat. Surprisingly, they are the bad feelings you feed into the mind. Those are the hidden culprits.

Advanced health sciences have traced the root of all diseases to a disruptive energy pattern in the body, caused by destructive cellular memories that engender wrong tendencies, unhealthy habits and predictable results.

The last three points highlighted above are the reason people deny themselves of radiant health or full restoration of wellness by subjecting their bodies to denatured diet regimen and harmful chemical drinks that do many damage to the body. Add to this, the inhalation of toxic smoke and fumes, insufficient physical exertion in a naturally clean environment; to complete the cycle of destruction by toxic overload.

Bad feelings ignite toxic chemical changes in the body, corrupt and corrode the make good decisions. Like alcohol, it depresses the sense of judgement despite the availability of illuminating information on the matter, tendency or inclination.

Science has recently gone ahead to uncover that really feeling good despite the bad turns in personal or business pursuit of objectives, significantly unleashes the right chemical changes in the enzymes of the body. This in turn stimulates the cells and by connection, the organs and the systems of the body and in effect, the brain for more positive and visible rapid results. (More issues on this topic in our subsequent lectures and publications.)

The world’s best kept secret appears not to be the atomic or nuclear but the healing codes.

The later is more protected than the former but all healing rays emanate from the purest of heights for the sustenance of life and experiencing therein, thus under the inviolable protection of the light through the laws that operate in creation, knowledge for the wellness of man can be mediated without offending or outraging the sensibilities of our neighbours.

A whistle clean health is possible and can be realised in measurable lengths. Restoration of radiant health is a certainty anytime we resolve to eliminate destructive cellular memories from our harassed and harrowing body system. When we do this; the roots of all the puffy eyes, drooping cheeks, aching bones and joints, putrefied intestinal waste matter, unexplained swelling, rough skin, bad breath, heart, blood, and other ailments, will naturally melt away, and cannot return except allowed. If we do this, we will be left with only the symptoms of ill-health that has no root feeding its branches. Nature cure will then wean the body to an admirable level of wellness.

Having identified the root and been removed, we can then proceed to specific and successful nature cure sure-fire tips for resounding levels of wellness applicable to different ailments and diseased conditions. Some of the things your favourite doctor either by innocent omission or by commission has not yet let you know of. Starting with executive toxic overload, and of course, your specific questions – which are most welcome? (More issues on subsequent discourse.)

Nature cure is today the application of and adjustment to a simple, natural way of life and living with the aim of raising the bar of wellbeing by eliminating disease-causing conditions. One of such conditions as shown is allowing bad experiences sink in, your experiences when they sink in are not just stored in the cerebellum or the section of the brain known as the hippocampus. Experiences input itself into the fine cells of the body forming a chain of cellular memories that bring resultant physical effects depending on its contents.

How can all these highlighted health problems be handled; and other situations, to bring back our immune systems to normalcy for our life’s sake? That exactly is where the definitive and immensely helpful tips spoken of will light up the way starting from the approaching festive week.

2012 NASSMAC SPECIAL SERIES

 

‘We have achieved our objectives in Nassmac’

After 12 years of sponsoring the Cowbell National Mathematics Competition (Nassmac), Chief Keith Richards, managing director of Promasidor Nigeria Limited in this special interview says it has not been a wasted investment.

 

Focus on mathematics

If you go back and look at our products and our consumers, our products are consumed in a family environment, so all of our CSR, not just National Secondary Schools Mathematics Competition (Nassmac), all of our CSR focus on the family, children, mothers, health and nutrition and also their education because you are not just feeding the body, you are also feeding the mind. So around 14 years ago, when we were looking for an area to focus our CSR, we started developing the cowbell mathematics competition, of course the first two years was in Lagos and later it was made a national project about 12 years ago, but it is still within our area of core competence.

 

Objectives achieved

Yes of course we have achieved our objectives. If you track the performance of students in the West African Senior School Certificate Examinations (WASSCE) in the last 10 years, you will see that there has been improvement in the number of credit passes in mathematics and a drop in the failure rate. That can be attributed to the effect Nassmac is having on students because each year the number of students registering to participate in Nassmac keeps increasing as more and more schools are getting interested, our exam centres have increased, in fact this year, the first stage exams were held in 200 centres across Nigeria. That shows the kind of interest in mathematics we have been able to generate through this competition and that is one of our major objectives. We have also responded by increasing the number and value of the prizes we give our winners.

 

The impact

The research we do is with the national mathematics centre, they do the research and we work with them and that is how we know how mathematics result in WASSCE is doing. We partner with them because it is their responsibility to monitor the progress of mathematics in Nigeria. In terms of the brand, we do in our corporate research, in our brand research, we do evaluate the impact and it is pretty clear that in our target group which is the family, you have children in schools, mums that are looking after the family, they do recognize cowbell and promasidor as a responsible brand and company and this reflects positively on the brand.

 

A worthwhile Investment

Of course it is. The reason I know is that when I sit in those competitions and you see the number of children that have done extra mathematics, for example, this year we are targeting 60,000 students, last year we had 34,000 students. Most schools in an effort to select their representatives organize a quiz or test for their students so as to select those that will represent the school. So we believe that as many as 400,000 or 500,000 students actually did extra mathematics to prepare for this competition. So if that many kids are actually doing more maths, that has to be a good thing for improving their mind and for the development of a key skill for the progression of the Nigerian youth for employment for development of the country.

 

Winners from the elite schools

We try very hard to make sure we have the widest possible outreach. And of course an ideal would be that we have a complete mix where there is ethnic, geographical, gender and also economic balance in the winnings, but ultimately, we are not manipulating it they have to do the exams, so the winners reflect those that are good in mathematics. Now what we are doing and one of the reasons why we have been expanding, like this year we are in 200 centres, that means we are not just doing centres in Ikoyi and Victoria Island and Abuja, we are really moving out across the country and getting a cross section of the students from public schools, private schools and across the geographical areas because we want winners to reflect as wide as possible. But you know not all parents can afford to send their children to the best schools, and there tend to be a bias in the winning towards those children in the best schools because the failure of state education in Nigeria penalizes a majority of Nigerians in favour of those who can afford to pay for their education. And that is the reality. But because of the way we do it, we do everything we can do to democratize the competition.

 

National Awards in Abuja

We hold the examination in all the states and we do the award ceremonies in Abuja because that’s where we can get the most exposure and we also invite special guests in the person of the minister for education and other senior people from the government and the national mathematics centre. it would be easier to get them to attend if it is in Abuja than if it were in any other state.

 

Exams without expo

We are engaging with NEO Media who are very professional and they have handled the exams for a number of years, it comes back to the issue of consistency. We also work closely with the states ministries of education and the federal ministry of education as well as the national mathematics centre. We have 42 depots around the country, we have a large sales force and we can utilize and mobilize those resources at the exam centres. You will see our sales force acting as invigilators, they make sure that the envelops are sealed when they are released at the exam centres and when the answer scripts are collected. It is such a huge logistic operation.

 

Nassmac 2012

We have increased the venue and we are targeting 50,000 students. An interesting thing that we have done this year is putting the past questions on our website to assist students with their preparations. As usual we will sponsor winners to represent Nigeria in the mathematics Olympiad.

One of the things that Promasidor as a group do is, there is a college group, the African Leadership Academy and it was set up by Africans from around the continent but it is based in Johannesburg, South Africa, they take very bright students and they develop them for high end academic development, these are really really bright African students. We sponsored two and the first one that we sponsored, at the age of 17 was offered places in Harvard, Princeton, Yale and Oxford, she was really brilliant, I think she chose Yale. When they are looking for really bright scholars around Africa, they use Cowbell mathematics competition as one of their ways of helping to identify bright kid particularly from families who cannot afford to send their kid abroad. The academy helps to arrange sponsors for them. So there is a number of ways that we keep in touch with our past winners.

 

Other initiatives

Nassmac is our flagship programme and the biggest of our community development initiatives in terms of the resources we put in it, but we do a lot of other things. For example, we focus a lot in schools, we have our reward for excellence programme. This year, in over 3,000 schools, we will do the reward for excellence under the cowbell chocolate banner and that is at the end of terms and year, we give special prizes to children for great academic achievement, sports and good morals, we also reward the teachers. We also do a lot in sports, we sponsor the popular animal game, which is always fun, we sponsor rugby, a sports that is developing in Nigeria, we are working with the Nigerian Rugby Federation to develop rugby in schools. We also do the Para-soccer.

Then we do things with our local community, here in Isolo, we put street lights, we have donated medical equipment particularly focusing on pre and post natal care. On a wider basis we have supported pediatric care, most recently we gave incubators and equipment to University College Hospital Ibadan, we have done one recently in Imo State. We also respond to emergency disaster relief with our products.

You don’t do these things because you want to wave a flag and say come see what I am doing, you do them because they are the right things to do. You don’t do them because you want reward from government or the community, the interesting thing is, our staff and our managers, get a good vibe for being part of the company, it gives them a sense of pride.

Again when you do these things you would be seen as a responsible organization, you work closely with regulatory bodies like Consumer Protection Council (CPC) , Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), National Agency for Foods and Drug Administration and Control (Nafdac) and so on. They know who you are, they know you are responsible and you have a better relationship with them. When you are recruiting new staff or managers they know that you are a responsible company.

We do spend a lot of money, we do spend a lot of time, Nassmac is our largest CSR programme and I think we can legitimately claim that in terms the principles of CSR, a genuinely good corporate citizen, I think we can be as good as anybody in Nigeria today.

 

Selection and Sustainability of projects

As soon as you get reorganized as a company doing CSR, you get so many requests. The pile of requests on my desk is quite high ranging from building borehole, to roads and so many other things. And because of the failure of government to live up to its responsibility, everybody is reaching out to anybody else to provide those services. So you have to make a choice based on your focus and what can be sustainable because a good CSR has to be focused, it has to be consistent and it has to be sustainable. So we focus on family, that is where we are concentrating, family in its widest sense. We try not to do one off event, except in the case of disaster. But generally speaking, we look at things that can last, Nassmac is 14 years still going, Para-soccer is now eight years, Animal games is five. So we try to be consistent and the other thing is sustainable, you can only do what you can afford, if you have money this year you do more, next year you don’t, it is not providing a sustainable link with the community. But it is really tough, until government begin to provide social services especially in health and education, there is going to be the need for corporate bodies to step in to do things that in other countries government can be relied upon to do.

 

CSR in-house

It comes in a number of ways, the first thing that we do in terms of salaries, remuneration and benefits, we benchmark ourselves against all of our peers, other multinationals to make sure we are in the upper quartile of remuneration and benefits and in fact we give more than that. Our welfare package is very competitive. The unions will always ask for more and sometimes less than healthy, we dialogue with them and that is natural. But there are a number of other things that we do, we have won several prizes for our environmental standard, our work environment for our workers, for example, we are spending $1.5million air-conditioning the factories to make sure the working temperature is acceptable. We are just building a new canteen it has been designed to be in compliance with food regulations and create a conducive environment for our workers to eat.

And in terms of our waste disposal, we have state of the art effluent treatment plant for our liquid waste and we are working closely with government on the disposal of solid waste.

So in terms of internal CSR, we strive to implement best practices as well.

 

Behold the state champions

 

With the release of the result of the first stage examination in the 2012 edition of the Cowbell National Secondary Schools Mathematics Competition (Nassmac), the battle ground has shifted to the second and final stage examination which holds on June 9 2012 in the six geo-political zones.

The results show wonderful performances from kids in states like Rivers, Ogun, Benue, Ekiti, Imo, Lagos, Kano and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja where candidates scored 90 per cent and above.

In fact the states to watch in this year’s competition are Rivers and Ogun States. In Rivers, the junior candidate made 99 percent. He is from Charles Dale Memorial International School, the same school that emerged national champions last year in the junior category showing that they are not yet ready to let go of that first position and the senior from Graceland International School PortHarcourt, made 90 per cent. Graceland was national champions in the junior category in 2009.

In Ogun, the junior from Ota Total Academy, the school that emerged national champions in the senior category in 2007, made 97 per cent while his senior colleague from Iganmode Grammar School also of Ota, the school that produced last year’s national champion in the senior category made 96 per cent.

From all indications, the best performers are schools that have won at one time or the other showing that at the end of each competition, schools that made it to the award ceremony return to their schools with a vow to win the next competition.

The list of the state winners are here displayed for you to know your maths whizkids.

 

 

 

Akwa Ibom

Junior                                                                                          Obj   Theo  Total

Effiong Etim Effiong, Govt. Sec. Sch., Afaha, Eket M                 74,        14      88

SNR

Imeh Victor Okon, Beulah Int’l Sch., Ekom Iman M                      60         19     79

 

Anambra

Junior

Obiekwe Olisaemeka Wisdom, St. Paul uni. Sch., Nibo- Nise M     68       13      81

SNR

Chukwubueze Promise, Bishop Crowther Seminary, Awka M          66        20     86

 

Bauchi

Junior

Jibril Aliyu Shehu, Islamic Orientation Sec. Sch, Azare M               40         11     51

SNR

Zakka Mbishow Immaculate Conception, Gubi Dam Road M            48        15     63

 

Bayelsa

Junior

Okarinya Siso Biobelemoye, Belary Schools, Imirigi Road F              38        18     56

SNR

Ibaba Ledum Ayibaemi, Belary mont jnr. Sch. & col, Imiringi Rd M  48        17      65

 

Benue

Junior

Akor Emmanuel Akor, Calvary Arrows College, Aliade, Gboko M       74       19       93

SNR

Akuhwa Fater, Calvary Arrows College, Aliade Gboko M                     66       17        83

 

Cross River

Junior

Udobang Joshua Jacob, Govt. Sec. School, Uwanse M                            60        13       73

SNR

Chris-Okoro Chigozirim Nnamdi, Access High Schs, Henshaw Layout M

68         19       87

 

DELTA

Junior

Asarhasa Victor Ufuoma, College of Edu. Dem. Sec. Sch., Warri M      74         10       84

 

EDO

SNR

Agha Ifechukwude, Oregbeni Estate Sec. School, Benin City M          68        20      88

 

EKITI

Junior

Malachi Olaoluwa Petoa, City College, Ekute Ado-Ekiti M                 76        15       91

SNR

Olorunfemi Gabriel Christ School Snr. Secondary, Ado Ekiti M         56         19       75

 

ENUGU

Junior

Okeke Chidera Onyedika Mea Matre Elizabeth High Sch, Agbani M  68         12       80

 

SNR

Idika Uduma U. A. UNN Sec. Sch., Enugu campus M                          58         17       75

 

GOMBE

Junior

Bappah Babangida Jibwis, Islamic Sci. Sec. Sch., commercial area M 52        10        62

SNR

Nchoro Trust Donald, Zenith Int’l Integrated College, Doma M           62        10        72

 

Imo

Junior

Adolalom Obinna, Living Word Academy Sec. Sch, Mbakwe Road M 74       18        92

SNR

Amaechi Daisy Udochi, Federal Govt. Girls College, Owerri F              54       16       70

 

Jigawa

Junior

Garba Koli, Sa’adatu Girls’ Junior Science Sec. School, Guri F               28        7       35

SNR

Abdulkarim Abubakar Sci. Sec. Sch., Kafin Hausa, Dutse M                   50       19      69

 

Kaduna

Junior

Rabiu Shamsudeen, NITC Kaduna Boys, Rigachukunkmis, Kaduna M  58       14     72

SNR

Ibrahim Ismail Adamu, NITC Boys College, Rigachukun M                    70        20    90

 

KANO

Junior

Bdullahi .S. Ahmad, Govt. S. S. S., Warure Gwale M                                78        20    98

SNR

Aniobi Tobias Henry, Nigerian Turkish Int’l College, Ring Road M          72        14    86

 

Kogi

Junior

Raji Arafat Muzammil, ASCL Staff Comp. Sec. Sch 1, Ajaokuta M       64         8       72

SNR

Onimisi Benedict, Christ The Good Shepherd Academy, Anyingba M     70       18      88

 

Kwara

Junior

Okunola Toluwani, Effective International College, Tanke F                     64       10     74

SNR

Akerekan Olayinka, Baptist Model High School, Gbagba Ilorin M             64       18     82

 

Lagos

Junior

Okwunze Kenechukwu, Apostolic Faith Secondary School, Anthony M     74       16    90

SNR

Akinjide James Ayokunle, The Learning Field, Satellite Town M               70       20    90

 

Nasarawa

Junior

Aliyu Joan Ovaoiza, Brightway International Sch, Nasarawa                       46        7      53

SNR

Godwin Uchenna, Federal Government College, Keffi M                             46       16    62

 

Niger

Junior

Midala Hyellamurti, Police Secondary School, Minna F                               52       12    64

SNR

Shodipo Ahmed Ajibola, Federal Governnent Academy, Niger M                60       20    80

 

Ogun

Junior

Akintokun S. Adegboyega, Ota Total Academy, Ota M                                80      17    97

SNR

Uwa Benjamin, Iganmode Grammar School , Idi Roko M                              76      20   96

 

Ondo

Junior

Akinwande Boye, Greater Tomorrow College, Ikare-Ajowa Road M             76      11   87

SNR

Arotiba Blessing, Greater Tommorow College, Ikare, Ondo State F               66      17   83

 

Osun

Junior

Omole Ayobami Omobonike, Bibo-Oluwa Academy, Lekoja Ilesa F            74      18   92

 

Plateau

SNR

Akinola Daniel Mojola, Baptist High School, Jos M                                 50      20      70

 

Rivers

Junior

Douglas Leslie, Charles Dale Mem. College, Gwuruta, P/H M                80      19      99

SNR

Shorinwa Olaoluwa, Graceland Int`l School, Liberation Rd., P/H M       72      18      90

 

*Sokoto

Junior

Aminu Bashir Jawad, Blue Crescent Schools, Mabera M                        42       13      55

SNR

Aniebonam Valentine, Royal Comprehensive Sch, Dendo Rd M            42      18       60

 

Taraba

Junior

Obadiah Emo, Rhema Christian Academy, UMCN, Kofai M                  50      18       68

SNR

*Samuel Esther Rhema Christian Academy,Umcn Kofai F                      44      14       58

 

Zamfara

Junior

Saifullahi Ahmad Musa Govt. Day Sec. Sch, tsunami Gusau M              30       8        38

SNR

Mustapha Abdulkadir Hbk Academy Gusau,Tudunwada, Zamfara M     44       5        49

 

FCT

Junior

Henry Ohunene Anastatia, Regina Pacis College, Lakin Garki F             76       15       91

SNR

Aikodon Nosa, Nigeria Turkish International, Wuse 2 M                         72        20      92

 

 

Waste-To-Wealth: The Lagos Example

By Joseph Chibueze

 

When in August 1999, the new government of Bola Ahmed Tinubu in Lagos State launched the waste to wealth programme, it was obviously in response to the terrible state of the environment in the state as at the time. That singular action earned the government a lot of commendations and it was seen then as a government with foresight.

But like most other government programmes before it, there was no further action beyond the official launch. Nigeria is a country noted for initiating beautiful policies that also go with very nice slogans. Remember operation feed the nation, green revolution, school-to-land, operation sweep and many others? Unfortunately most of these programmes in spite of their nice slogans and acceptance by the generality of the people, never achieved their objectives.

The reason is simple: There is just no political will on the part of government to implement them, while on the other hand, some greedy individuals within government circles saw the programmes as opportunity to enrich themselves. At the end of the day, the programmes remain on the drawing board, but the money budgeted for them have been spent.

That was probably the fate that befell Lagos State Government’s waste-to-wealth programme. It has been in the limbo until recently when the present administration decided to dust up the file and give life to the project by empowering the Lagos State Waste Management Authority (Lawma), the body charged with the responsibility of waste management in the state.

Though the government of Babatunde Fashola made environmental cleanness a top priority on assumption of office in 2007, his efforts appeared not to be yielding the desired result as the volume of waste kept increasing by the day. The landfill sites were over flowing necessitating the creation of new ones. For how long will that continue knowing that land is a scarce commodity in the state?

So it was time to look for a solution, a solution that will not only help the state maintain a clean environment and a healthy citizenry, but also save the landfills and create wealth. Mrs. Tolu Adeyo, recycling manager, Olusosu Recycling Plant in an interview said “we could not afford to continue to land fill those waste while there are recyclable materials in there. That is why we are looking at the issue of recycling so that it will prolong the land fills and ensure environmental sustainability. So as much as possible we try to reduce what goes into our land fills.”

Lagos State generates over 10,000 metric tonnes of waste daily. In time past virtually every street had a refuse dump rising as high as a storey building, producing offensive odors and obstructing traffic and in some cases causing flooding as it blocks the drains.

A challenge it was, a serious one for that matter, but that which was a problem is about to become a gold mine, a money spinner for not only the state government but also for the citizens.

 

The project

The State’s Waste To-Wealth programme is an integrated waste management system that involves recycling of solid waste into various new products including clean energy.

The project which is being executed by the Lagos State Waste Management Authority (Lawma) in partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme (Unep) and the African Carbon Asset Development (ACAD) is expected to capture methane gas from waste and use it to generate electricity. The project apart from preventing the release of greenhouse gases which endanger the environment, will also create jobs and provide infrastructure through public-private partnership (PPP) among others.

It is a huge leap for wealth creation and environmental health in Lagos State, as the authorities move from traditional landfill disposal to modes of waste management that are economically rewarding and socially responsible.

Mr. Ola Oresanya, managing director of Lawma in an interview said the project is essentially a private sector driven initiative. According to him, “The reason for this is obvious, if it must be sustainable it has to be in the hands of the private sector while government only play the role of a regulator. In fact as we speak, this project has been concessioned to a private outfit to execute for 20 years. The government did that to ensure sustainability. So it is a Public-Private Partnership.”

He explained that the objectives of the project are to fully harness and utilise alternative options available in managing waste, thus reducing reliance on landfill disposal as well as minimise the emission of greenhouse gases, while managing waste in an environmentally sound, socially responsible and financially sustainable manner.

“We want to harness a new line of economic activities for interested parties within and outside Lagos. We have developed gas wells to manage and recycle municipal solid waste into clean energy. Landfill gas can be generated 24 hours per day, seven days a week.

“The gas is extracted from landfills using a series of wells and a blower or vacuum system. This system directs the collected gas to a central point where it can be processed and treated depending on the ultimate use for it,” he said.

The project holds strong possibilities for job creation, reduction in urban poverty, wealth redistribution and small business enterprise development. Globally, megalitres of raw sewage that would otherwise be pumped into the ocean, and tonnes of organic waste that would normally go into landfills, are being converted into electricity, fertiliser and clean water.

The waste to wealth programme according to Oresanya, also include nylon buyback programme, recycling banks, recycling plant at the Olusosun recycling centre; collection of PET bottles, aluminium cans, cardboard, cullet and other materials; and compost facility in Ikorodu in collaboration with Messrs Earthcare.

Others are the establishment of the recycling village for waste to wealth; engagement in school advocacy programme; waste paper collection; attracting investors for recycling, tyre and waste to energy projects among others.

According to Adeyo, there are different types of recyclables, nylon, metal, paper, plastics, bottles, pet bottles and so on. “But right now Lawma recycles plastics. We have a nylon recycling plant located at Olusosun our land fill site. We also have a composting plant in Ikorodu which is producing organic manure. What we are doing as a government is not to go into the business of recycling, but to show that it is possible, here lawma serves as a waste brokerage, we serve as a stock exchange. Government is supposed to be a regulatory body, but we need to jump start the process so that people will see that it is possible.

 

A new culture

For Adeyo, the whole idea of waste sorting and recycling is a new culture which must be imbibed by the people. “That is why we are doing a lot of education. The recycling banks are there to raise the curiosity of the people and get them asking questions and eventually they will get the right answers and that will help them to begin to imbibe that habit of separating the waste right from their homes.

“The level of compliance is still quite low and we need to do a lot of education and that is why we need to work with the private sector. Yes we are getting response from companies but it is still at a low level yet because not everybody knows that we have these things. That is why we are intensifying our efforts to create awareness and education. The issue of separating waste is a culture that needs to be inculcated and until people start seeing the value in it they will not imbibe it. So we will keep working and educating our people. From the responses we are receiving from our radio and television programmes where people are calling to say so they can actually make money from sorting waste, and they are asking how they can do it better, it is obvious that the message is making an impact. It is a waste to wealth thing, it is an alternative source of income. And we want our people to see it from that angle, in the long run, they will also discover that their environment is becoming cleaner and they are living healthier,” she said.

 

 

Wealth for all

One good thing about the waste to wealth programme is that it has opened up a new business line, the selling of recyclable materials. Moving through Lagos streets these days one sees bundles of satchets water packs which hitherto liter the streets obstructing flow of water in the drains, neatly packed ready for sale to waste merchants. Same goes for pet bottles, waste paper, old cartons, old office files and of course metals of different types.

“What we have done is to put value on those supposedly waste materials by buying it from the public. We have jingles on the radio and television to sensitise people and let them know that there is a market for their pure water sachets. All we want is to get the people sort their waste right from their homes,” said Adeyo.

She added that being a new idea, it would be difficult to get the people to comply if they cannot see any value they can derive from sorting those waste. “You can’t just go from household to household, you can talk from now to eternity people will still not do it, but when you have value that is attached to it, they would by themselves start cooperating with you and that is why that recycling banks are out there to help change the mind set of the people. When people see the banks, they would ask questions and that way they would begin to comply.

“To be honest with you, recycling is a profitable business, if it is not profitable you won’t find people there and it would not be promoted the way it has been in other parts of the world. A lot of companies are now looking inwards because they want to reduce their over heads. Recycling will help to reduce the operating cost for most companies and a lot of companies are looking that direction now. In fact if you go to our land fill site you won’t find metals there because as they are coming people are there waiting to buy them.

“One of the areas we are focusing on this year is tyre recycling. We are working to ensure that after the shelf life of the tyres they don’t end up in the land fills and you know that it remains there, over time it will start releasing some gas that pollute the environment,” Adeyo said.

For Mrs. Tolu Adegbite, a recycling officer at the Olusosun Recycling Plant, “People are actually responding, just a few days ago, an old woman came here with her bundle of satchet water packs for us to buy, even though we have stopped buying satchet water packs for now because our warehouse is over flowing with them, we just couldn’t refuse her. We bought them from her. Another thing we have done is we have rebranded scavengers, they are now called Resource Managers. We did that because we want to give them a more honourable outlook, that way more people would freely join and earn a living from supplying us recyclable materials. It is all part of the job creation part of the programme.”

 

New business opportunity

A visit to the Olusosun landfill site on a typical day, will present the picture of a busy market place with hundreds of scavengers dutifully turning every piece of refuse dropped on the site. It is a case of the faster you are, the more you get. The business is mostly dominated by people from the northern part of the country with a few southerners who in most cases serve as middlemen, buying from the scavengers and reselling to merchants or companies.

Umar Kabila who came all the way from Katsina State is one of the resource managers. Kabila, a secondary school leaver whose aspiration is to do a National Certificate in Education (NCE) programme in a College of Education had to go into scavenging to raise the money he needs to finance his education. He said he has been in the business for four years.  “I want to go to college of education. I finished secondary school in 2004, I tried to do NCE but I don’t have the money, so I decided to come here and hustle. If I get enough money I will go back to school. I have saved up to over N100,000. It would have been more than that but you know I have to assist my parents. We are more than 20 children in my family,” he explained.

Kabila said that metal gives more gain than nylon and plastics. He also reveals that because of the competitive nature of the business, customers deposit money with the suppliers pending the time the materials are available.

On the volume of materials one can pick in a day, Kabila said it could be as high as two tonnes a week or even more depending on how hardworking one is. “But that is no longer the case, the volume has been drastically reduced because many people have joined. I think that is because they have seen that there is a lot of money to be made picking scraps,” he said.

Apart from the scavengers, there are also others who are at the site providing support services like the food vendors, recharge card sellers, loaders and the carriers. Mustapha Abubakar is one of the carriers. He said he makes about N4000 a day carrying the scraps for those who bought them to their vehicles. But then he does not work every day because their work have been scheduled in such a way that every body gets a chance to work. They have a union.

Government also generates revenue from the business activities at the landfill. For instance, scavengers pay a daily rate of N70, sellers pay N100 weekly while buyers also pay N200 to government each time they were at the site to transact business.

From all indication this waste-to-wealth project is of inestimable value especially in a society where unemployment is at its highest peak and families are finding it difficult to feed and where there is severe environmental degradation and frightening trends in the climatic system. Turning waste into energy is a proven technology that has the potential to provide a significant amount of domestic energy needs, while reducing the nation’s over-dependence on landfill and also solving the perennial problem of erratic power supply.

It is instructive to know that this sustainable system environmental management through waste to wealth is catching the attention of other states in the federation. Ondo State has already introduced the system with the slogan: Pure water satchet = Cash. Plateau State is also thinking along that line but according to the state commissioner for environment, Mrs. Sarah Yusuf, the state is still trying to set up a central dump site.

 

 

Price list

 

Item                                                            Price per kg

PET bottles                                                      N20

White paper                                                     N20

Colour paper                                                    N10

Nylon bag                                                        N20

Metals                                                              N15

Shoe soles                                                        N30

Aluminum cans                                                N75

Jerry cans                                                         N14

Satchet water packs                                         N30

Clothes                                                            N10 or N20

Bottles                                                             N10 (each)

CSR here should be community development driven!

by Oke Enechi

 

Ada is her parent’s last child and so much loved by them. Today, she is having fever but the parents, very poor cannot afford to take her to any nearby health center. As the desperation of the mother continues to increase, the father remembered he bought a medicine at the last market day – a black liquid concoction in a bottle. The seller popularly known as “doctor” in the village market claims it cures every ailment including jaundice in a day old baby. He smiled and gave the bottle to the wife. “I bought it from the doctor at the last market day, give her, I believe she will be ok”, he told her. The wife looked at him calmly and took the bottle from him. She also believes in the ‘efficacy’ of the medicine. One of her friends told her once of the ability of “doctor’s” medicines.

Quickly she administered the dark liquid to the baby. But after one hour, the fever increased. Terrified! They have no option but to rush her to the village health center and see if the nurse there can treat the baby while they pay later. On the way to the health center, the baby died.

The baby would have lived if the parents had treated mosquito nets to protect her against mosquito bites. The child would have been saved if there is a micro health insurance targeting the poor that provides a safety net for them – Ada would have been rushed to the hospital in the first place without any hesitation.

Beautiful Ada would have been living, playing with her mates if NAFDAC is active in the rural areas to arrest and prosecute merchants of death such as “doctor”. Ada would have been living if companies are executing targeted CSR projects in the rural areas providing health education, developing innovative micro health insurance products and providing health facilities such as treated mosquito nets etc. But all these did not happen and she died.

But in faraway cities, in good hotels and good office complexes, business executives and their employees are busy thinking of ways of coming in to help out in promoting good health. But they waste precious time arguing about the conceptual differences that exist between corporate social responsibility, corporate social investment and corporate philanthropy while the societal vulnerable suffer untold hardship including death daily. Yes, conceptually there are differences. But does it really matter? Corporate social responsibility (CSR) according to a study conducted by GTZ in conjunction with other institutions on the factors that promotes or hinders CSR in sub-Sahara Africa, is viewed as “accountability of companies, to both share-holders and stakeholders, for their utilisation of resources, for their means of production, for their treatment of workers and consumers, for their impact on the social and ecological environment in which they operate and for the way in which they exercise their legislative and fiduciary duties” and the same report view the concept of Corporate social investment (CSI) as “the way in which companies care for the well-being of the social and ecological environment of the communities in which they operate. To this end they invest, in a variety of ways, in the advancement of certain socially and/or environmentally defined needs, projects or causes extraneous to their regular business activities”. Corporate philanthropy is an act of corporations donating part of their profits to NGOs to execute projects for the benefit of the society. That is why I find the piece on the corporate philanthropy and corporate social responsibility reproduced from the CSR Academy in the last edition of this magazine very interesting. The differences in my opinion are rather blurred and the societal vulnerable do not see these differences rather they look forward to anybody – be it corporation or any other organisation – that can help to improve their lives. And this is where the view of Dayo George, the Head of CSR & Communications, BAT, West Africa that “CSR is not just about community development, it is a total package and it is the totality of what you do internally to drive sustainability”, becomes very instructive. The truth is that CSR is viewed as a community development here because of our state of development. This view seems to be confirmed by a study conducted in 2009 by GTZ on the factors that promotes and hinders CSR in Sub-Sahara Africa, where it was found that most of the ‘would be’ beneficiaries of CSR projects in Sub Saharan countries surveyed prefer community development projects. Also another study conducted by Jantzi Sustainalytics strongly highlighted the role of multinational companies in realization of the MDGs in the sub-Sahara Africa. USAID also argue in one of their documents that the business community has a very critical role to play by providing “tremendous contributions in promoting good health and well-being” of the society. These views strongly suggest that CSR in our part of the world should be community development driven.

In my view, companies rather than discuss the differences, need to urgently blend the three conceptual models if they really want to make an impact with their CSR. There is no point dissipating energy on the conceptual differences of corporate social responsibility, corporate philanthropy and corporate social investment when there is much they can do to be of help to the society where they operate and earn profit. The societal vulnerable wants to see a project that will impact on their life and don’t care whatever names you call it.

Helen Clark: International Anti-Corruption Day

09 December 2012

Statement of UNDP Administrator on the International Anti-Corruption Day
December 9, 2012

Corruption is a crime against development which thrives in the shadows. International Anti-Corruption Day is an opportunity to shed light on the damage it does, and to reaffirm our commitment to act against it.

The impact of corruption is greater than just the diversion of resources – significant as this is. Corruption is also corrosive of societies and contributes to a justified lack of trust and confidence in governance. The worst consequences of corruption are borne by poor and vulnerable groups. Bribes, for example, can make basic services available only to those able to pay.

As the poor are more reliant on public services, they are disproportionately harmed by what may be, in financial terms, small-time corruption. Research suggests that poor women are often the worst affected by corruption.

The poor also have the most to lose from rapid degradation of natural resources stemming from corruption which enables laws and regulations to be circumvented. Illegal logging to which corrupt officials turn a blind eye, for example, can threaten the ecosystems on which poor people depend for their livelihoods, and lead to revenue losses for governments too.

UNDP, through its work in support of the program Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation, also known as REDD +, is helping to reduce the risk of corruption in forest management.

Preventing and combating corruption requires transparency and accountability at all levels.  UNDP now has some two decades of experience in supporting countries to fight corruption. Integrated approaches, encompassing capacity development, governance reforms, targeted anti-corruption measures, more transparency, and greater civic participation, have been proven to work well.

Anti-corruption measures need to be integrated into development planning processes. UNDP’s work on governance around the world aims to strengthen the national institutions and processes needed to build trust, improve responsiveness and accountability, and mobilise resources for development.

Taking back what was lost to corrupt practices is everyone’s responsibility – governments and civil society organizations, the private sector and the media, the general public, and youth who will play a pivotal role in seeing this agenda through so that their future is built on solid and honest foundations.

I encourage each of you to act against corruption today, to shine a light on those shadows, so that we can move together towards a better world.

The Politics of Corporate Social Responsibility: The Rise of a Global Business Norm

Dec
2012

08

posted by nseferian | on Book Reviews

Author: Ursula Mühle

Publisher: Campus Verlag

Year: 2011

Pages: 390

Over the past decade, there has been a global call for businesses to behave in a socially responsible manner. The notion of a socially responsible business has been gaining momentum through the emergence of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policies, initiatives, and organisations. However, there are few studies addressing how and why CSR has made its way into particular policies and institutional arrangements. Therefore, there is every reason to welcome a new academic work exploring why the world is witnessing the diffusion of CSR.

Through The Politics of Corporate Social Responsibility: The Rise of a Global Business Norm, Ursula Mühle aims to fill this paucity in the academic literature by offering a novel analysis. Guided by theoretical ideas from international relations, sociology, and neo-institutionalism – as well as by making use of documents, case studies, and interviews from individuals in business, politics and intermediate sector organisations – the book accounts for the success of CSR over the past forty years. To provide a global perspective, Mühle focuses on two global CSR initiatives – the UN Global Compact and the Global Reporting Initiative.

The underlying argument is that CSR is becoming institutionalised as a global business norm, and is being embedded into what Mühle calls the “emerging global welfare sector.” She points out that there has been an increase in interrelations between business, politics (states, IGOs/IOs, industry associations), and the intermediate sector (consulting firms, scientists, NGOs, companies, investment communities) since the 1970s. Importantly, buttressed by the forces of globalisation, business itself has incorporated CSR as a norm and has actively participated in its global diffusion along with other actors.

Although the book attempts to provide a full account of which actors are actively involved in this global diffusion, it only pays lip service to the role of financial services industry. Despite this minor shortcoming, The Politics of Corporate Social Responsibility provides a stepping stone for future research regarding the evolving corporate social responsibility of business as an auspicious new direction.

Review by

Selena Lucien, CSR International

Etisalat leads the way in CSR education

Special report.

Recently, the corporate social responsibility (CSR) centre set up by Etisalat Nigeria, one of the GSM services providers in the country clocked one. The centre located at the Lagos Business School of the Pan African University, Lekki, Lagos is a CSR initiative of the GSM Company.

The Etisalat CSR Centre is the first of its kind in Nigeria and it focuses on CSR and related issues. The key functions of the Centre are knowledge creation, dissemination and application.

In the area of knowledge creation, it focuses on research in relevant areas of interest including corporate governance, work-family balance and business ethics. As a knowledge disseminating agent, the centre runs in-house seminars and workshops on CSR as well as integrates CSR modules in MBA and executive programs.

Obviously the company has noticed the dearth of knowledge and clear understanding of the concept of CSR in Nigeria by those who should know and drive the concept, the top executives.

Of course, explaining the rationale behind the initiative, Mr. Steven Evans, Etisalat CEO, making a presentation at the last CSR training for journalists said that the centre is designed to shape CSR opinions and understandings of present and future business leaders as well as key policy and decision makers. According to him, “We believe that a CSR strategy has both a top-down and bottom-up dimension that empowers the different socio-economic levels. We believe that because CSR is an evolving concept and most organizations as well as experts in this part of the world tend to view CSR from the lowest philanthropic terms, focusing only on the lowest socio-economic levels such as the less-privileged people will not produce maximum impact or enhance sustainability. We believe that focusing initiatives on those at the top socio-economic levels can also help create the desired impact and drive sustainability in the right direction. It is for this reason that after a lot of soul searching, we decided to provide leadership on the development of a Corporate Social Responsibility Centre here in the Lagos Business School.”

The reason most companies in Nigeria especially the indigenous ones fail in their CSR activities or do not even engage in one at all is the fact that the corporate affairs departments usually charged with CSR functions do not get the support of the top management because the CEO sees such ventures as a waste of funds.

In its first year of existence, 142 professionals of different companies have had enriching experiences from the Centre’s activities. Of this number, 52 are top executives.

102 MBA students are currently being trained on CSR due to the integration of CSR into the MBA program. The CSR modules are mandatory.

Just recently, the centre organized CSR training for journalists. The idea behind this according to Dr. Chris Ogbechie, director of the centre is that journalists being opinion moulders need to understand the concept of CSR very well so that they can present better reports in their coverage of CSR activities.

This training for journalists is especially necessary because the low reportage of CSR issues including analysis and features in the Nigerian media is a direct result of lack of basic knowledge of the concept and how it ties with the profitability of an organization.

In coming up with the idea of the centre, Etisalat has shown that it is a thinking organization, an organization that understands its operating environment and an organization that is desirous of attacking a problem from the root and ready to do more than the ordinary.

Evans noted that Etisalat has started to put in place a long-term plan to implement its CSR initiatives based on international best practices. According to him, “Some of the best practices we have identified and built on include stakeholder engagement which involves internal stakeholder creative inputs as well as external stakeholder involvement. There is also the value based self regulation which is simply our Code of ethics that guide our behavior in business dealings with all stakeholders. All these form part of the sustainability bedrock upon which our initiatives are built. We are equally aware that a good CSR strategy and sustainable initiatives are built on basics such as meeting our legal and regulatory commitments, both to the letter and in spirit.”

Ismail Omamegbe, manager, CSR & Internal Communications, Brands and Communications Division of Etisalat, said in a chat, “Our CSR strategy has taken into cognizance what we consider the rather peculiar Nigerian situation; CSR and philanthropy are mostly used interchangeably when in truth both terms and concepts have clear differences. It is a fact of life in Nigeria that corporate bodies and government officials misunderstand what CSR truly represents and its potential to drive sustainability. These, combined with other factors, provided the bedrock upon which we conceptualized and defined our CSR strategy. This strategy focuses on varied socio-economic groups which include decision and policy makers in government as well as business leaders such as the chief executive officers of corporate organizations.”

He said the CSR partnership with LBS is focusing on people at the top end of the socio-economic ladder with the objective of making even bigger impacts on society because “we are able to shape the opinion of decision-makers. For us, this was a huge motivating factor in our decision to partner with LBS on the development of the CSR centre. The program, which is included in the MBA curriculum, is designed to address the challenges associated with the theory and practice of CSR,” Omamegbe said.

As part of Etisalat’s various ongoing CSR projects, the company partners with the Lagos State Government on its Adopt a School Initiative (ASI) which includes provision of all forms of support to secondary and primary schools. Three schools; Akande Dahunsi Memorial Secondary School in Ikoyi, Edward Blyden Primary School in Okesuna, Lagos Island and Rabiatu Thompson Primary School in Surulere have so far benefited in the provision of upgraded infrastructure with a plan to continually provide support in areas including but not limited to infrastructure, leadership/management and direct support for students and teachers’ development.

Etisalat has also instituted a Merit Award that includes scholarships for university students with the highest CGPA in Electrical Electronics Engineering, Computer Science and Management Sciences. About 150 students have so far benefited across the country.

BEHOLD SOME MEMBERS OF OUR EDITORIAL BOARD

 

Tunji Olugbodi, Managing Director, Verdant Zeal

 

Olugbodi can easily be described as a risk taker. By now, he is used to wearing that label. Since 1987 when he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in English from the Ogun State University (now Olabisi Onabanjo University), he has taken unsafe career moves, beginning as a newspaper reporter at The Guardian, then moving on to work as copywriter with Saal Advertising, and later a Client Service Executive in many other agencies. After a one-year stint in Proserve Advertising, he joined the founding team of Prima Garnet in 1991. A series of promotions followed and in 1998, he was appointed the company’s first Executive Director, Client Service.

Nine years later, he left to start Verdant Zeal, VZ.

Not surprisingly, VZ has caught on as a bright idea among blue chip businesses and small ones with ambitions for growth.  With his 20 years of helping to plant such massive brands as Motorola, DSTV/Multichoice/MWeb, Unilever, Coca-Cola, British American Tobacco, Nestle, Virgin Atlantic, First Bank of Nigeria, Guinness, DAARSAT and InterSwitch, Olugbodi’s view of both sides of the communication spectrum has empowered him to create an alternative yet inventive means to offer value for his clients.

At the core of his business is Innovention, the marriage of innovation and invention and the proprietary Open Brand Probe, both of which are VZ tools of dissecting challenges and offering unusual solutions that must ultimately lead customers to profits and leadership. For the first time, Olugbodi is leading a company, a group of energetic professionals whose mantra is to constantly fill the client’s business needs by being on strategy, on budget, on time.

A Nigerian whose ideals are shaped by global trends, Olugbodi is a finely cut gem in the marketing communications sector. He is a full member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, London and the Chartered Institute of Marketing Nigeria. He is also a member of the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON), Member of the Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG) Media Sub-Committee, and the Education Foundation for Onigbongbo Local Council Development Area, Ikeja Local Government of Lagos State.

A Course Speaker for UAC Training School, Financial Institutions Training College (FITC) Lagos, and a Faculty/Circuit Speaker on Marketing/Business and Management, Olugbodi is himself on a permanent quest for more knowledge. He is the current Chairman, Board of Governors, Baptist College of Theology.

Generally impetuous, Olugbodi believes that “You should not pass like a ship in the night,” and as you read this, he’s probably thinking up another venture that will definitely shake things up.

 

 

KEN EGBAS

 

Ken Egbas is a chartered Member of the Nigeria Institute of Public Relations (NIPR). He boasts of over a decade and half -long experience as a media practitioner in leading print media in Nigeria. He holds a postgraduate degree in Marketing from University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Egbas is Managing partner of TruContact- A Public Relations Company based in Lagos, Nigeria. He publishes of Nigeria Social Enterprise Reports, a compendium of best practices in the CSR sector in Nigeria and Nigeria’s premier publication on corporate sustainability and responsibility, and also the brain behind -The SERAs- Nigeria CSR Awards- that seek to promote good corporate citizenship and CSR practice in Nigeria. He has led his organization to carry out the most extensive impact assessments program ever done in Nigeria over the past five years through the SERA project. He has overseen verification and impact assessment visits to 188 communities  in 36 states of the Nigerian Federation, including the federal capital territory .He has developed and implemented successful marketing and communication strategies for several brands.

 

KIERAN CHIDI ENECHI.

 

Kieran brings to the Board,  25years of critical Legal consulting and corporate management experience. In the past 11 years, he has focused on information and communication technology with cross functional roles in change management and legal support for high commercial transactions. He has successfully managed several key goal-specific projects and delivered real value, through experience and  skills in effectively coordinating variables. In this connection, he has received different letters of commendation for outstanding performance, from his employers. His work attitude was in 2007,  publicly commended at an industry occasion by the Chief Regulator of the telecommunications sub-sector in Nigeria.

A self motivated team player, he has good business ethical values and a ready ability to analyze and work through ideas to rapidly achieve solutions. He graduated from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka in 1986 and the Nigerian Law School, Lagos in 1987. And is also, a distinguished alumnus of the Digital Bridge Institute, Abuja and the Pan African University, where he acquired vital post graduate training to leverage his business readiness.

Kerian is at home with the Creative, Liberal  and Healing Arts, charity work and life coaching. And has received a Paul Harris Fellowship from the Rotary International. He holds the chieftaincy mantle of UgoChitubelu Nimbo.

 

 

Nkechi Ali-Balogun

 

Nkechi Ali-Balogun is a multi-talented industry veteran with over 20 years of professional experience in the client and services aspect of Public Relations and Training consultancy proffering value-adding solutions to managerial problems thereby turning issues as they arise into opportunities.

Nkechi’s experience includes serving as Chairman of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations, Lagos State Chapter. She is a gifted strategist with intuitively creative abilities. As a result, she is an in-demand industry facilitator, perception manager, motivational speaker, and mentor in her career.

A graduate of the University of Lagos she also holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Marketing from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka and an MBA in Management from the same University. In addition, she has attended Public Relations Management courses in Frank Jefkins School of Public Relations, London and the prestigious Lagos Business School. Nkechi has won many awards and the first female to win the Most Outstanding Public Relations Practitioner (Female) from the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations, Lagos.

She has just concluded an MSc programme in Mass Communication from the University of Lagos.

She is the Founder of Filles du Roi, a ministry that encourages matured singles to wait with virtue. She is also the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Right Initiatives, an NGO for Women and Youth empowerment. LYDIA Christian Women Business Network, a programme of Right Initiatives is also her project. Nkechi is the publisher of Events.Com, a one-stop-shop for events and events support services.

Nkechi is married and blessed with a lovely daughter, Ikeoluwa.

Diary of the Societal Vulnerable

Corporate organisations can help in providing water

by Okechukwu Enechi

 

It was Sunday afternoon; a lady emerged from a dusty pathway of a village with container on her head. She looks over 28 years but her real age may be between 19-23 years. Mere looking at her physique, you will know she is aged more than her real age due to the stress she go through daily. Strapped on her back is a baby, breathing so hard, coughing intermittently and eyes full of dirt. Without any medical diagnosis, you will quickly agree he has serious cold and cough, probably caused by exposure to harsh weather and dusty environment.

She is going to a stream, located about 10 kilometers away. It is the only stream around the area that is source of water for over five communities. Sometimes they spend as much as 12hrs at the stream waiting for turns to fetch a container of water not more than 20ltrs. But today, she is lucky and allowed to jump the line because of her baby. She spent only 5hrs. Others that do not have the patience to take their turns following the line had to take brownish ‘colored’ water that is full of red soil. They believe when it settles, it can be used in the house for washing, cooking and even drinking. Fetching water is a daily routine for her. She is as good as not doing any other thing except looking for water for the family to use daily. As she is walking home, balancing the container on her head with the baby grunting and crying, she came close to tears, asking herself questions that she don’t know where to seek answers from. When will this end? Can’t anybody help the village and ameliorate the suffering? She remembered the day some people came from the LG council and promised them borehole but it’s been over 2 years now and nothing is seen. She remembered how politicians come to them when election period approaches, promising them water if elected. Even some people that came with equipment to the village telling them they have come to build bore hole for them have not shown face again. In front of her house in the village stands a telecommunication mast erected by one of the giant telecommunication companies. She wished the mast is a water tank but it is not. Though she is not educated, she thinks that the company that erected the mast can help the village if they had wanted to. She thinks if the government decides not to help the village, companies that erected the mast at least should help or even well-meaning individuals can come to the village’s rescue. Back home from the stream, she is tired and could not do any other thing. For a whole day, she has only succeeded in getting 20 liters of water that is not enough for the family’s daily use.

And the reality is that every day in Nigerian rural communities, people go through this. The situation has continued to entrench cycles of poverty and leads to avoidable deaths daily. It is because of this scenario that the world came together in 2000 to agree eight millennium development goals and set 2015 as a milestone which is generally believed if achieved will rid the world of avoidable poverty and death. Provision of clean water is central to achieving these goals. With clean water provided, the women and children will be freed to do other things that will improve their economic and social status thereby reducing the level of poverty in the society; water related diseases would be eradicated, avoiding unnecessary deaths. Today, it is becoming clearer that Nigeria’s march towards achieving the goals in 2015 is mixed. At this age, cholera and other water related diseases are still killing people in Nigeria. Government and international donor agencies are left to take on this challenge of providing water to the people, but corporate organizations that make huge profits and budget substantial sums for CSR are turning blind eye to this critical challenge. Instead of turning blind eyes, the corporate organizations can do something. With less than 5% of the total CSR budget, a company can build more than two boreholes for a community depending on the size of their budget. What of the telecommunication companies? They can build boreholes at their mast locations scattered in several rural communities that are in dire need of water. Water is life and it is too critical to be left alone for the government. The corporate world has a role to play in this aspect. Companies in India and the Latin America have come to accept this fact. They are providing water in rural areas as their CSR projects using alternative source of energy technology to power the boreholes. In the urban slum areas, they are being innovative, providing water at a little fee for maintenance of the borehole and power generators. Nigerian companies can do it and do it better.

Volvo to Sell its 2013 V60 Plug-In Hybrid in Europe

 

Volvo Cars will launch its V60 Plug-In Hybrid sportswagon in 2012. Volvo calls this a ‘second-generation hybrid’ even though it really never offered a first generation one. It does offer its DRIVe, a mild hybrid with regenerative braking and start/stop, on diesel vehicles in Europe.

Peugeot is also launching its diesel-electric 3008 Hybrid4. Like the Volvo, the Peugeot features through-the-road (TtR) hybrid technology. Here, the engine and electric motor drivetrains are not mechanically connected. The parallel TtR is simpler than the conventional power-split system, resulting in a less expensive diesel hybrid approach. PSA Peugeot Citroen will offer this technology in the Citroen DS5 Hybrid4.

 

In the V60 Plug-In Hybrid, the front wheels are driven by a five-cylinder, 2.4-liter D5 turbodiesel engine that produces 215 horsepower. The rear axle features Electric Rear Axle Drive (ERAD) that consists of a 70 horsepower electric motor supplied by a 12 kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack. The car has a six-speed automatic transmission.

There are three modes of operation. In the PURE mode, the car runs only on its electric motor. Depending on the terrain, climate, and driving style, all-electric range can be up to 31 miles. In the HYBRID mode, the default mode when the car is started, both the diesel and electric motor provide an optimized balance between driving pleasure and a low environmental footprint. The car’s POWER mode provides the best possible performance including a 0 to 62 mph time of 6.9 seconds. The modes are selected by three buttons on the instrument panel – PURE, HYBRID, and POWER. The car is rated at 124 mpg and has a maximum range of 746 miles.

 

When the AWD button is pushed, the central control unit manages torque distribution between diesel-driven front wheels and the electrically powered rear axle. Using setup menus, the driver can key in the distance of the planned route – short, medium or long – so the control system calculates the balance between diesel and electric power to obtain the lowest possible CO2 emissions.

Charging is via a standard European 230 volt outlet. Depending on current capacity available, charging time can range from 4½ to 7½ hours. The passenger compartment can be preheated or precooled while charging to reduce battery drain while driving in the all-electric mode. Interior preconditioning can be programmed in or remotely controlled via a cell phone. An instrument display provides a full range of information about diesel fuel and electricity consumption, battery charge level, remaining range, and other functions.