P&G Boosts Less Privileged Children Education

R-L Mrs Patricia Obazuwa, External Relations Head Procter & Gamble
Nigeria, with Claire Molyneux, Associate Marketing Director Procter & Gamble and
Otunba Femi Dinah, Vice Chairman sponsor a child organisation, at the press
briefing on Buy One Pack and Help Educate an Orphan in Lagos yesterday.

Procter & Gamble Nigeria (P&G), the world’s leading household products manufacturer in Nigeria has said it has concluded arrangements to give proceeds from sale of three of its brands to educate 3,000 children in 15 orphanages in Lagos.

Ms Claire Molyneux, Associate Director of Marketing of P&G who listed the three brands as Ariel, Always and Pampers disclosed this last week at a press briefing in Lagos, remarking that the initiative was part of Building Futures, an outreach programme of the company that has been donating learn-and-play centres to orphanages around the country.

She said the resources needed for the education of the targeted 3,000 orphans in the Lagos area is enormous, and that is why the company is engaging its consumers to be part of the worthy efforts of the company at giving back to the society.

According to her this initiative presents an opportunity for everyone to personally take a small step towards the education of a child that would normally not have the same privileges as their peers.  By simply purchasing P&G products that millions of consumers already know and love - Pampers diapers, Always Sanitary Pads and Ariel Detergent from the 9^th of May to the 9^th of June 2011, you will be playing a role in helping orphaned children to realize their full potential in life.

Under the Building Futures initiative, P&G donates pre-school early learning materials, text books for nursery, primary and secondary school level, computers and  learning software to orphanages in Lagos, which include: Love Home Orphanage, Heritage Homes, Hephzibah Home, Light of Hope Orphanage, Living Fountain Orphanage, Precious Pearls Orphanage, Compassionate Orphanage, Babes Salaam Muslim Orphanage, Bethlehem Charity and Orphanage Home, S.O.S. Children Village, Owu, Tunji Adebayo Motherless Babies' Home, Little Angels’ Orphanage, Centre For Destitutes’ Empowerment, National Orthopaedic Hospital Special School and Arrows of God.

As part of the programme, P&G in partnership with Sponsor A Child, a Non-governmental Organization (NGO) has been donating resource centres equipped with books, computers and play materials to some orphanages in Nigeria. Five of the orphanages, one each in Lagos, Ibadan, Benin and two in Kaduna have already been inaugurated for the children’s use by the company.

Sponsor a Child (SAC) Coordinator, Olatoun Williams, said literacy is a primary concern of the NGO, having seen the level of illiteracy and what damage it is causing to the development of the society, remarking that the organisation is therefore partnering with P&G in this initiative to deliver educational opportunities to the less privileged and at risk children in Nigeria.

According to her, absence of literacy in the society can be linked to all the ills that affect the society. “Scourges like poverty, exploitation, poor health and illiteracy go hand-in-hand. It is not a coincidence that where illiteracy is high people face other, often dire, challenges,” she said.

She said the current initiative of P&G is therefore an effort to tackle the situation from the perspective of the underprivileged of the society.

Williams stressed the need to mobilize resources and the political will to eliminate illiteracy in the country, noting that if Nigeria have to move forward, there is need to eliminate illiteracy.