By Theodore Opara WITH hardship biting harder by the day on account of the coronavirus pandemic and the attendant lockdown ordered by the...
By Theodore Opara
WITH hardship biting harder by the day on account of the coronavirus pandemic and the attendant lockdown ordered by the Federal Government, some auto companies in the country have pulled resources to ameliorate its effects and donating to save lives.
As at the last count, no less than eight auto companies have contributed millions of naira in cash and relief material to states and the federal government to help save the lives of Nigerians infected with the deadly virus. They include: Toyota Nigeria Ltd, Elizade Nigeria Ltd, Mandilas Group, Stallion Group, Weststar Associates Ltd and Massilia Motors.
Although Nigeria is not major auto manufacturing country, some franchise holders have also made donations worth millions of naira in the fight against the pandemic. Leading the pack is Toyota Nigeria Limited and Elizade Nigeria Limited, who jointly donated three brand new Toyota Hiace ambulances to the Lagos State government, Weststar Associates Ltd representative of Mercedes Benz in Nigeria donated a brand new Mercedes Benz Axor 1823 waste management truck to the Lagos State government while Massilia Motors, representatives of Mitsubishi motors supported the fight by giving food items to 1000 families in Ijora, Lagos State, where the company’s headquarters is located. The food items include bags of rice, beans, sugar, salt, vegetable oil, pasta tomatoe paste, etc.
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Vicious virus
Deputy Managing Director of the company, Mr. Kunle Jaiyesimi while making the donation, commended the government’s efforts at checking the menace of the deadly disease. He said the donation was a way of alleviating the hardship the lockdown may have on the people in the neighbourhood community.
Chief Michael Ade-Ojo, Chairman of Toyota Nigeria Limited and Founder, Elizade Nigeria Ltd in his remark described COVID-19 as a vicious virus that is presently ravaging people all over the world. He stressed that everything humanly possible must be done to quickly contain the pandemic. According to him, the government needs the support of all well-meaning Nigerians and corporate organisations to fight the evil scourge and all hands must be on deck.
In his remark, the managing director of Toyota Limited, Mr. Kunle Ade-Ojo, stated: “The gesture is in recognition and commendation of the continuous efforts of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State and his indefatigable team to contain the spread of the virus.”
Stallion Group, a frontline auto distribution and manufacturing company also lent their support by supplying food items such as rice and fish as well as vehicles to support the logistics. Stallion had through its empowerment initiative, pledged to support local governments in all states in the country with the food items to run hospitals dedicated to COVID-19 for three months. Anant Badjatya, CEO of the company said: “These are exceptionally difficult times and urgent emergency resources have been deployed to cope with the needs of affected states and support their healthcare system.”
Also in support of the fight against the pandemic, Mandilas Group, foremost auto distributing company and representative of Carrier air-conditioner, donated some units of air-conditioners to the National Centre for Disease Control, NCDC to make the isolation centre in Lagos more conducive for the occupants.
While making the donation of the waste truck on behalf of Weststar Associates Nigeria Limited, Umoh Ekanem said that the organisation was proud to be associated with Lagos through Lagos State Waste Management Authority, LAWMA, who received the 18-tonne Axor 1823 truck on behalf of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu. It should be recalled that the Nigeria auto sector has so far made more number of donations despite the challenges facing the sector in recent years.
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