By George Ozalla
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has spent N70 billion on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) projects across the country, Comptroller-General of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, has disclosed.
Adeniyi made the disclosure on Monday in Modakeke, Osun State, while speaking with journalists during the commissioning of the renovated Ife Girls High School, Ile-Ife, carried out under the Customs CSR initiative.
He said the intervention at the school was part of the Service’s wider CSR programme through which it had supported communities and institutions requiring assistance with infrastructure and other basic facilities.
According to him, the CSR programme is funded through contributions from officers of the Service, who commit part of their annual salaries to projects selected to benefit communities.
“Last year, our budget for CSR into this was in the region of N70 billion, and from there we are able to commit what we have done in this school,” Adeniyi said.
He said the Service had identified schools and other educational facilities in different parts of the country where targeted interventions could improve the learning environment and provide students with better facilities.
Adeniyi said the interventions were not restricted to education, but also covered healthcare, road infrastructure, water supply and other projects based on the needs identified in communities.
He stressed that government alone could not provide all the infrastructure required in schools and other public institutions, urging individuals, Parent-Teacher Associations, charitable organisations and foundations to support efforts to improve educational facilities.
“It is practically impossible for the government to do it all alone. The budget they have for education will not support this kind of renovation,” he said.
Speaking on the Ife Girls High School project, Adeniyi said the institution, which is about 60 years old, was once a thriving girls’ secondary school but had suffered serious infrastructural deterioration over the years.
He recalled that some of the facilities had deteriorated badly before the intervention, with the school laboratory overgrown with vegetation and reportedly providing shelter for snakes and squirrels.
The poor condition of the school, he said, had also affected enrolment, which had dropped to about 200 students before the renovation.
Adeniyi said the intervention was aimed at restoring the school and providing a better environment for students, particularly girls, to pursue their education.
“Female children are particularly more necessary to us because of their special needs. I grew up in this community and this used to be a thriving female secondary school,” he said.
The Comptroller-General commended the old girls’ association of the school, the Osun State Government and the Ooni of Ife for their contributions to efforts to restore the institution.
The school principal, Mrs Akinremi Iyabo, thanked the Customs Service for the intervention and assured that the renovated facilities would be properly maintained.
The Customs Service introduced the “Customs Care” initiative through which personnel contribute portions of their salaries to fund projects that address identified needs in communities.
