Lafarge Africa Plc has awarded multi-million-naira bursaries in its host communities in Ogun State, in line with its commitment to the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 4- Quality Education, leading building solutions company.
Since the launch of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Day in 2006, Lafarge Africa has continued to live up to its billing of improving the living standard of its host communities in Ewekoro and Sagamu in Ogun State with the provision of basic business & vocational skills, start-up kits, education grants, community projects, agricultural fund, healthcare and education facilities, among others, on a yearly basis.
To reiterate Lafarge Africa’s commitment to education, 3,855 students of higher institutions from its host communities in Ewekoro and Sagamu in Ogun State have over the years benefited from its bursary awards.
A breakdown of statistics showed that in Ewekoro community, a total of 204 students received N20.4 million as total bursary payment in 2015. Whereas N20.4 million was spent on 204 students in 2016, N20.4 million was dispensed to 204 students in 2017 and N20.4 million doled out in 2018. For the 2019 academic calendar, 20.4 million bursary awards were spent on 204 indigent students.
Confirming the educational interventions extended to the communities, Mr. Tajudeen Akintokun, a resident of one of the host communities in Ewekoro, Ogun State, noted that, the building solutions company’s interventions go beyond primary school building construction but also include that of secondary school buildings in the community.
“We can not thank Lafarge Africa enough, if we count all they have been doing for us in education in the last 15 years, you will know that they have saved lots of pupils and students from being dropouts.
“Apart from what Lafarge is doing for our pupils at the primary schools, we asked them for classrooms in one of our secondary schools here in Ewekoro and they are already constructing the classrooms for us.
“They have told us that they are introducing free basic but core textbooks for our pupils in primary schools in all the 12 communities under Ewekoro Lafarge Africa’s Communities and we have also been told that they would distribute uniforms at no cost to our pupils at the beginning of the 2022/2023 academic calendar,” he said.
Speaking on the interventions in education, head, Sustainable Development & Brand Communications, Lafarge Africa, Titilope Oguntuga, said: “this is fuelled by our commitment as an organisation to building the capacity of the people, particularly students and institutions in the community while ensuring we leave a positive impact on public school pupils in the country.
“At Lafarge Africa, we believe in the power of good quality education and we are focused on sustainable initiatives that will secure a brighter future for young Nigerians, leave an enduring footprint within our host communities and impact generations in a sustainable manner,” she added.
