British American Tobacco Nigeria Foundation (BATNF) has reiterated its commitment to growth and sustain ability of its corporate ssocial investment, through partnership with relevant stakeholders. This commitment was made by the general manager of the foundation, Abimbola Okoya during the BusinessDay Giving Back Conference, with the theme “Transforming Nigeria’s Education System: The Role of Corporate Investing,” held at the Civic Centre in Lagos.
According to Okoya in her presentation, BATNF is focusing on sustainability in the agriculture, which seeks to encourage farmers to adopt more productive ways of managing and earning livelihoods from natural resources in a sustainable manner.
“It is our belief at BATNF that developing our education sector should be shared responsibility between the three tiers of government and the organised private sector. Right now, we have awarded scholarship to students of various higher institutions who are children of our partner farmers, studying in various field of agriculture,” Okoya said.
The foundation trains farmers in modern skills to improve their yields and has also invest in training in ICT and tailoring, she said.
She advised government that for the country to witness the desired improvement in the standard of education through partnership with the private sector, there was need for improved legislation and appropriate curriculum, as this improvement will guarantee wealth creation, employment opportunities, increment in growth rate, reduction in rural urban drift and extreme poverty among rural populace.
In her keynote address, Olayinka Oladunjoye, Lagos State commissioner for education, commended BusinessDay newspaper for the conference and the theme, which is most appropriate at this time. She also commended the corporate organisations who have partnered the state government in its bid to improve the standard of education.
According to her, “education is the best legacy that can be given to younger generation to ensure sustainable development. The first world countries are the ones with the best facilities and investment in the field of research and development.” Oladunjoye solicited for more support from the private sector through donation of facilities such as classrooms, libraries, ICT rooms, sporting facilities, etc., in order to improve the education sector, saying government alone cannot shoulder this onerous responsibility.
In his presentation, Chris Ogbechie of Pan African University stated that “education is the major instrument for social, political and economic development of the nation.” But, according to him, the education system of the country is in a state of crisis, saying that, Nigeria has the highest population of the out-of-school children in the world. He opined that the private sector as a matter of responsibility must partner the government as it cannot adequately fund the education and other sector effectively. According to him, “if the private organisations assist, it becomes shared value and if they don’t, they are jeopardising the future of their businesses.”
He further stated that private sector partnership with government to improve standard of education will ensure improved quality of human capital, reduction in social problems, create entrepreneurship, generate employment, as well as wealth creation.
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