In December 2019 when reports of a strange ailment killing people began emerging from Wuhan, China, no one expected that it would lead to a pandemic that has so far infected over 10 million people and claimed more than 500,000 lives, according to data from the World Health Organisation (WHO).
By the time WHO declared the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) a global pandemic on March 11, 2020, it had left sorrows and tears in its wake across different countries, exacting a heavy toll on the economies of nations.
The consequences have been felt in almost every facet of human existence, with governments evolving creative means to minimise the deadly scourge. Nigeria has been proactively managing the pandemic from February 27 when the country recorded her index case. In collaboration with states, the Federal Government devised various ways to contain the disease.
One of the measures was the hard choice of a total lockdown on Sunday, March 29 in three of the then ‘hardest-hit states’ of Lagos, Ogun and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja while intensifying nationwide sensitisation with the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) at the forefront of the campaign. Isolation centres for those who had contracted the disease were established with the NCDC and the COVID-19 Presidential Tax Force overseeing efforts to stop its spread.
But the battle was not left for the government alone. The private sector, significant enablers in the country’s socio-economic life, also got involved in efforts to fend off the deadly invisible enemy. One of the most prominent private sector players is the Coalition Against COVID-19 (CA-COVID) which has written its name in gold with its tireless efforts. It has aided efforts to combat the pandemic by building isolation centres across the country and buying Personal Protective Equipment (PPES) for medical personnel.
But apart from CA-COVID, other big private sector players including the Nigerian Bottling Company (NBC) have also rallied to offer assistance to Nigerians and the government. The Company’s first intervention was for those on the frontlines; patients who had already contracted the disease and healthcare workers.
NBC and its sister company, Coca- Cola Nigeria, donated over 13 million centilitres of its beverages, including Eva premium table water and other soft drinks to provide hydration and nourishment for patients and healthcare workers at isolation and treatment centres across different states in the country.
In Lagos, the Onikan Centre, Gbagada Centre, Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Federal Medical Centre, Ebute-metta, and the Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) whose street sweepers and medical waste workers actively worked, and are still working during the pandemic, were among the beneficiaries of the Company’s initial donations.
Other states including FCT, Edo, Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Ondo, Rivers, Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Imo, Kaduna, Kano, Niger, Lagos, Anambra, Delta and Ekiti later took delivery of their donations.
Matthieu Seguin, managing director of NBC, explaining the company’s interventions, said the efforts were implemented in tandem with the global standard of lending support to communities during emergencies.
Seguin, who praised the Federal and Lagos State governments for their efforts at curtailing the spread of the virus, said “we appreciate the measures deployed so far to curtail the spread of the virus and the medical care currently provided for confirmed cases in the State. We fully support these commendable measures and will continue to work hard to meet the hydration needs of Nigerians, which is critical at this stage of the crisis.”
NBC’S multi-pronged interventions didn’t neglect vulnerable Nigerians in its immediate communities. Well aware of the hardships that most Nigerians are facing, the Company shifted attention to vulnerable households across the country.
The National Bureau of Statistics had in its 2019 Poverty and Inequality in Nigeria Report, found that 40.1 per cent of Nigerians live below the poverty index. For a state like Lagos, an estimated six million out of its about 20 million population work in the informal sector. The implication was that a lockdown devoid of adequate provision for the vulnerable was going to leave some people dying from hunger than from the virus.
To help people cope with the lockdown which had by then extended beyond Lagos, Ogun and the FCT, NBC decided to expand its relief efforts. The assistance was in the form of distributing food items to thousands of households across the country to help them mitigate the impact of the pandemic. The first phase of the NBC Food Relief Intervention saw over 2,300 homes in 14 locations across the country receive essential food items, including rice, noodles and cooking oil amongst others.
The intervention, which commenced in Ota, Ogun State and Asejire, Oyo State, saw 300 households receive foodstuff. At the same time, an additional 150 households benefitted in Abuja, Port Harcourt, Maiduguri, Makurdi, Warri, Enugu and Minna. Two hundred families each also got relief packages in Benin City, Owerri, Challawa and Ikeja.
Receiving some of the household supplies on behalf of 150 families in Ota, Ogun State, Eric Gbibgi-jackson, chairman of Nice Estate Community Development Association commended the gesture by NBC.
“We are using this medium to appreciate Nigerian Bottling Company Limited. For these food items that you have given us, we remain deeply grateful and pray that your Company will continue to grow from strength to strength,” he said.
Commenting on the intervention, Ekuma Eze, director, Public Affairs and Communications, NBC said the exercise was part of NBC’S commitment to supporting its host communities across the country.
“The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has been quite unbearable for many families. As a socially responsible organisation, we believe there is no better time to identify with these people across our communities than now,” he said.
NBC’S COVID-19 interventions also extended to the provision of personal protective gear to its customers and business partners. For example, the company provided over 484 litres of bulk sanitizers, sanitizer dispensers and face masks to its trade partners. The company also provided hand sanitizer to 2,649 third-party drivers and truck assistants, as well as masks for their use on a daily basis.
The company repurposed some of its supply chain technology and assets to produce hand sanitizers while leveraging its 3D Printer to produce protective face shields. 118 beneficiary organizations ranging from healthcare facilities, government agencies, regulatory bodies, private sector groups, industry associations, customers as well as security agencies benefited from donations of these items. Focusing the strength of its business partnerships to support the fight against Covid-19, NBC joined forces with some of its Key Account partners to further support local government teams & health workers with free meals and Coca-cola beverages.
Through a grant from the Coca-cola Foundation, the Coca-cola System in Nigeria has donated N170 million to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) to support COVID-19 relief efforts in Nigeria. As the country continues to record more cases, the Company has also not relented in its interventions to families and frontline workers. When the pandemic is eventually contained, and the story of how the country fared during the period is documented, the NBC will feature prominently.
