Odu’a Investment Company has set up a foundation with focus on improving healthcare, expanding educational opportunities and promoting youth development and information technology in Southwest zone of Nigeria.
The Oduá foundation, a non-profit organisation is established to sustain the ideals of the founding fathers of Oduá Investment Company Limited and create an enabling environment where everyone can live a healthy, peaceful and productive life.
Bimbo Ashiru, group chairman of the conglomerate while addressing the press on Monday said the three-priority focus of the foundation would be youth empowerment, education and healthcare.
“These three focus areas were carefully chosen benchmarking with notable existing foundation while objectives of the foundation are to make a sustainable impact in area of operations which include youth empowerment, education and healthcare.
To promote, develop and empower the teeming youths of Southwest Nigeria with a focus on education and health (physical, mental, and social) to deliver significant long-term education and youth development benefits in our stakeholder communities.
While saying that the foundation serves as a conveyor of goodwill from Odua to the good people of Southwest extraction, Ashiru said it would enhance the quality of life and livelihood of the people.
According to him, the foundation will also provide avenue for individuals, groups, philanthropies, corporate organisations, private and public institutions, multinationals, development partners and donor agencies to impact life meaningfully through their support, contributions and partnership with the Foundation in attaining its set mandates.
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“In furtherance of one of the objectives of the Oduá Investment Company’s five-year strategic plan to plough back to the people of the Southwest states of Oyo, Ondo, Ogun, Osun, Ekiti and Lagos, the conglomerate in September 2021 incorporated the Oduá Investment Foundation (OIF) to serve as an independent social corporate arm of the company to give back to the society and improve on the life and livelihood of citizenry within the confine of the owners states, thus complementing the efforts of the state governments in impacting lives meaningfully to its people” the group chairman added.
The Odua Foundation has a seven-member advisory council with Olatokunbo Awolowo-Dosunmu as chairperson.
Ashiru stated that the members of the advisory council are highly revered sons and daughters of Southwest origin with a proven record of impeccable character and who have distinguished themselves in their chosen field of endeavours saying they will serve as ‘Think- Tank’ for the foundation.
“The primary role of the council is to protect the corporate image of the foundation by effectively representing and promoting the interests of the foundation and relevant stakeholders.
In his address, Seni Adio, director of Odua said part of the profit after tax of the conglomerate would put in the foundation saying after that they members of the advisory council would seek for partners and supports.
On her part, Foluso Olaniyan, independent director, Odua Investment Company said would be partnering with global and local so as to get substantial funding for the foundation.
While saying that monitoring and evaluation would be transparent, Olaniyan assured that through this, the public would have confidence in the foundation.
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