Admin l Tuesday, October 15, 2019
LAGOS, Nigeria – As part of its continuous support to education in the country, no fewer than 50,000 students have benefited from Total E&P Nigeria Limited through its Social Corporate Responsibility (CSR).
The Executive General Manager, CSR and Medical Services, Mr Vincent Nnadi, said this at a media interaction in Lagos while highlighting the company’s efforts in contribution to its host communities through CSR.
Nnadi said, “Accordingly, Total has identified several commitments as priorities for social welfare, with education ranking at the top of the list. Our international subsidiaries therefore support numerous programs relating to education. The company is currently focused on education and capacity building through its CSR, adding that Total had also invested in the six geo-political zone of the country under is CSR initiatives.”
He said that the company had invested over 40 million dollars annually on CSR while assuring that assuring that it would invest more when the economy is stable. Nnadi said that the education scholarships cut across post primary, post-secondary which include 80 tertiary institutions recognized by the National Universities’ Commission (NUC) as well as post-graduate in local and foreign universities.
He also said the scheme in three categories included National Merit Scheme, Community Scheme and International Scholarship. Nnadi explained that the National Merit Scheme had over 4,000 beneficiaries and the Community Scheme with over 5, 000 beneficiaries, both annually.
According to him, the scheme which is regarded as ‘Catch them Young’ programme allows bright pupils to be identified in primary schools in rural communities and placed in the best secondary schools in Port-Hacourt under the sponsorship.
Others, Nnadi noted, were the NYSC Scheme where graduates in their national service were engged and posted to secondary school in the host communities to teach science subjects. He said that the company also had a Teachers Programme where science teachers were paid incentive in the host communities to motivate them, while workshops and training programmes were also organised to improve their techniques.
The executive general manager stresssed that Total had also undertaken the construction of lecture theatres, classroms, hostel blocks, renivation of schools, amongst others. According to him, the company has a strategic and reliable partner throughout the entire value chain in downstream, upstream and midstream sectors of the Nigerian economy.
He said Total as the 4th largest and gas producing company with 3000 employees had over 10 billion dollars investment in the economy in the last five year. According to him, in 2012, the company has invested over 80 billion annually but it went down due to the economy situation in the country.
He said that the company had also invested in renewable energy, adding that over 47 stations in Lagos were powered by solar while over 125 stations across the country were powered by solar. Nnadi added that Total also partnered with the Nigeria breweries and Coca-Cola on solar power. He said, “Over the next 20 years, electricity demand will increase faster than the demand for energy as a whole.
“In order to meet this growing need, tackle the challenges of climate change and comply with the International Energy Agency’s scenario; we have made it our ambition for low-carbon businesses to account for nearly 20 per cent of our portfolio in 20 years. We are already actively participating in the development of renewable energies, especially solar.
”With operations spanning the manufacture of high-efficiency photo-voltaic panels, ground-based power plants, decentralized systems, storage solutions and marketing to end-customers, we are present across the entire value chain and fast-tracking the deployment of solar technology.”
