Mary Nnah
Pan-African Capital Foundation (“PAC Foundation”), the corporate social responsibility arm of Pan-African holdings recently organised a clean-up exercise for the Mesewo community, in the Mushin area of Lagos State.
The Clean Up exercise was aimed at enlightening the residents on environmental sanitation and reducing the health hazard that can be contracted through pollutants and accumulated waste in the environment.
According to the Executive Secretary for the Foundation, Omolola Ojo, ‘‘The mission is to create impact for social good through innovative interventions that are private-sector driven. Our focus areas are health, education, environment, and economic empowerment’’.
“The foundation promotes and creates Eco-conscious communities by engaging youths and everyone in the society to create sustainable Eco-solutions to problems impacted by climate change affecting people’s health in the environment,” Omolola added.
Over 20 members of staff of PAC holdings volunteered to carry out the clean-up exercise. They were equally supported by some youths in the Masewo community, which made it a collaborative exercise, to ensure an environmentally friendly atmosphere.
The Managing Director of PAC Securities -a subsidiary of PAC Holdings, Charles Okonkwo who was actively part of the exercise said ‘’It is of paramount importance that we take responsibility and Clean-up the environment often because of the obvious consequences’’.
“We are committed to intensifying awareness on proper waste disposal and separation from source, eradicating the hazards caused by these wastes,” the Group Human Resource Manager of PAC Holdings, Olusola Agbeyi, said.
Residents were briefed on the impact of the clean-up and were advised to sensitize the entire community on waste management, personal hygiene, and plastic pollution on the environment, especially on gutters that cause blockages.
The Foundation’s Programs Officer, Joshua Dominic, while sensitising members of the community urged the community members to desist from dumping plastics or littering the environment to prevent flooding or disease breakouts.
In addition to the clean-up exercise, the PAC foundation donated various food items as a relief to hundreds of households in the community in the spirit of Christmas as they came out in large numbers to receive the donations.
Reacting, some members of the Mesewo community expressed gratitude to the group for blessing them with food to eat and cleaning their environment as well.
In his remarks, the Baale of the Mesewo community, Mr. John Kupolokun expressed his satisfaction with the exercise and commended the group for taking it upon themselves to clean up his community.
He eulogised the organisations, the community representatives, and the residents who participated.
“It is a good thing, and that is why we have lent our support to it. I applaud the efforts of the organization for the positive steps taken in making the Clean-up Day memorable for our community”, he noted.
PAC Foundation seeks to make Lagos cleaner, especially by partnering and working with communities and organizations with similar interests and goals.
