James Sowole in Akure
In pursuance of its Corporate Social Responsibility(CSR), Chevron Nigeria Limited (CNL), operator of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC)/Chevron Joint Venture, has taken one of its health programmes to the riverine areas of Ondo State for the benefit of the people in the area.
The programme, tagged ” Roll Back Malaria” was flagged off at Ugbo in Ilaje Local Government Area of the state with an admonition to the people to maintain proper hygiene.
Speaking at the ceremony, the General Manager, Policy Government & Public Affairs of Chevron Nigeria Limited, Mr. Esimaje Brikinn, said the programme was one of the CSR initiatives of the company to better the health of the people.
Brikinn said CNL places the highest priority on the health and safety of its neighbouring communities, workforce and protection of the environment and its asset.
He promised that NNPC/Chevron Joint Venture would continue to partner with the federal and state governments on the drive to eliminate malaria.
To drive home the programme, Chevron Nigeria Limited CNL had yearly been engagung Women’s Right Advancement and Protection Alternative (WRAPA) to handle the programme for people in some riverine communities.
The state WRPA Coordinator, Mrs Edna Ohunayo, who noted that the gesture would soon take place in Owo Local Government, said that the annual initiative had been beneficial to people of the area, whose environments are prone to breeding mosquitoes causing malaria.
Also speaking, the resource person, Lieutenant Raphael Awofe, who is the Medical Officer of the Nigerian Navy Forward Operational Base (FOB), Igbokoda, lamented that children under five years of age are the major victims of malaria.
Awofe sensitised the people on the causes, dangers and global best practices to curtail malaria scourge, demonstrating how the mosquito nets could be effectively used in the various households.
The state Commissioner for Health, Dr. Wahab Adegbenro, lauded the oil company for the intervention programme, saying it would tremendously help to reverse the scourge of malaria in the state.
Adegbenro noted that the programme would complement the health insurance scheme embarked upon by the state.
