Nigeria: BATN Foundation Earmarks N3.91 Million to Dredge Four Rivers in Oyo

Source from:  This Day  05/28/2013

The British American Tobacco Foundation (BATF) has earmarked the sum of N3.91 million for the dredging of four rivers at Oluyole Local Government Area in Oyo State to compliment the efforts of the council in battling flooding.

The four rivers to be dredged are Odo-Ona, Odo-Ona kekere, Agara and Aba Ibeji, whose banks overflew in the wake of 2011 flood disaster.

Investigations revealed that Oluyole local government area was the worst hit during the August 2011 flood disaster in which many lives were lost and property worth billions of naira destroyed.

Speaking at the weekend, during the handing over of the bank draft for the dredging at the council's headquarters, in Idi Ayunre, the Executive Director of BATN Foundation, Mr. Gbenga Ibikunle, said the donation was part of the Foundation's corporate social responsibility.

He said government and its agencies alone could not solve the plethora of socio-economic problems that the country is presently facing and added that there should be genuine and well spirited efforts at harnessing the potentials inherent in Public-Private Partnership (PPP).

According to him, it was imperative that if Nigeria is to solve the myriads of economic problems facing it, the new global thinking which emphasises strategic partnering between governments and private development organisations must be adopted.

He described the collaboration between the Foundation and Oluyole council as a classical example of how a PPP could be engendered to promote socio-economic development by combining efforts to make the environment safer and enhance the welfare of the people.

Apart from the donation for the dredging, he noted that BATN Foundation was collaborating with the local government to make functional a vocational skills acquisition centre for equipping youths with vocational skills for self-employment.

The executive director, however, said the vision of the foundation was to empower rural areas in the country for sustainable future through the implementation of various agricultural development projects and engineering collaborative strategic interventions so as to improve agricultural enterprise and farm income.

Earlier, the council Chairman, Ayodeji Abass Aleshinloye, while thanking the BATN Foundation for the gesture, called on other organisations to come to the aid of the council.

"We hold BATN in high esteem because of what the company has done in the past and I am happy it responded to our call," he said.

Aleshinloye, however, said governance, especially at the local level had gone beyond waiting for the monthly federal allocation, which requires the active involvement of the private sector. Enditem