Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja
Exxon Mobil has vowed to sustain the fight against malaria in Nigeria.
The company’s General Manager, Public and Government Affairs, Nigel Cookey-Gam made the commitment during the 2019 Power Forward Basketball Initiative in Abuja recently.
Cookey-Gam noted that since 2000, more than 14 million bed nets, nearly three million antimalarial treatments- reaching more than 125 million people worldwide had been distributed at Exxon Mobil supported programmes.
He added that in addition, the Power Forward pilot project supports the federal government’s National Malaria Control Programme’s advocacy on youth development and public health, and that it builds on efforts by the ExxonMobil malaria initiative to combat the scourge.
“The community investment programmes we support focus on capacity-building training, education and health, especially among youths and women. Our philosophy is that a productive, healthy and educated society is a better place to do business,” Cookey-Gam said.
He thanked their partners – the National Basketball Association (NBA), Women National Basketball Association (WNBA) and Africare for the contributions toward sustaining the Power Forward programme in Nigeria.
Power Forward is a youth development initiative that teaches health literacy and life skills such as leadership, respect and personal responsibility through basketball and other programming to positively impact Nigerian secondary school students in Abuja.
