As part of efforts aimed at touching lives of people and making positive contribution to the society where it operates, Nielsen Nigeria, a member of the global brand which offers marketing research and consumer insights for businesses, has extended its philanthropic gestures to pupils of Local Government Primary School, Ikeja, Lagos.

The company recently donated a library, borehole and other items to pupils of the school.

Nielsen Nigeria noted that the donations were part of its CSR activities tagged Nielsen Global Impact Day (NGID) an event organised yearly to impact the lives of people and the society. Nielsen identifies Health, Nutrition and Education as key pillars that help humanity to thrive.

Local Government Primary School, located in Ikeja currently has 280 pupils and 30 teachers.

Pupils in the school hitherto suffered lack of water and good library, but Nielsen Nigeria under its 2015 NGID shouldered the responsibility to renovate the borehole and refurbish the library. The company also donated goody bags which contained useful hygiene items to the pupils.

The school now boasts of clean drinking water and a well-equipped library that is conducive for reading.

Speaking during the handing over of the amenities to the school, Mr. Lampe Omoyele, managing director, Nielsen West Africa, noted that the company deeply cares about contributing to its society through initiatives such as this.

He also said the NGID initiative is observed in over 100 other countries around the world by Nielsen.

“At Nielsen, we are keen about impacting the lives of people, community in our environment. We recognise that the government cannot do it all alone so we are proud to lend support that goes a long way to touch the lives of people. We realise that water is a necessity that is why we renovated the borehole to provide water. Also important to these kids is reading. When they have access to good books and library they learn properly so we donated books and renovated the library,” Omoyele said.

In her response, Mrs. Elizabeth Akapo, assistant head teacher of the school, expressed gratitude to the Nielsen for providing the facilities.

Her words: “Pupils hitherto would go outside the school premises far away to get their drinkable water every day because the borehole was out of order. Water is an essential necessity so the pupils and teachers need it.

They need water after meals and even for other uses while in the school, but the borehole had stopped working for months. With the boreholes restored by Nielsen, it is such a relief and delight for teachers and pupils.

“On the other hand, our school library was not pleasant to pupils to come in and read as it had old text books that were not in the curriculum. So the company out of concern renovated the library to make it appealing to pupils and equipped it with textbooks needed by pupils in line with the curriculum. Now pupils would be motivated to use the facility because it is attractive and well furnished. We deeply thank Nielsen for the love, care and support they have given to us,” she explained.

Mrs Bolanle Shittu, education secretary, Ikeja Local Government, also praised Nielsen Nigeria for touching the lives of pupils in the primary school. She noted that she is a product of the school which was founded in 1952.

She said: “The school has been receiving support from many people and organisations, but Nielsen’s impact was outstanding because it made so much impact in the lives of pupils and teachers.”

Some of the kids expressed appreciation to Nielsen Nigeria for alleviating their plight and giving them hope.

A primary six pupil, Favour Onoja, described the donations as timely and important, while Sunday Babatunde of Primary 5 noted that he felt so special and loved to be cared for by Nielsen Nigeria.

The pupils also entertained the Nielsen Team and other guests present with traditional dance, a playlet on gender discrimination and a debate on the topic ‘Females are better than males.’ Nielsen team also spent time with the pupils by reading books, mentoring and listening to the pupils in all the classes. The pupils were also served with free meals.

Other members of the Nielsen Nigeria team led by Mr. Omoyele include Omolola Oyebola, Associate Director, Human Resource West Africa; Ada-Obi Okafor, Quality Control& Training Manager among others. Guests present at the occasion were Mr. Muritala Mogaji, Chairman, School-Based Management Committee (SBMC); Mr. Ade Abatan, Director, Social Mobilisation Department, Ikeja Local Government; Mr. Patrick Souza and Mrs. Lanre Aina both from the Public-Private Partnership (PPP), Lagos SUBEB.