Mobil, JEOF seek healthy environment for pupils, renovate dilapidated lavatory

With the realisation that healthy living does not only entail daily intake of good foods, a non-governmental organisation, Joseph and Eunice Oladaiye Foundation (JEOF), in partnership with Mobil Producing Nigeria, has refurbished Lagos public school’s lavatory.

PBefore now, pupils of the benefitting school, Awoyaya Primary School, Victoria Island, lacked access to clean and socially acceptable toilets, a situation considered horrible by the benefactors.

Speaking during the handing over ceremony, Chairman, Board of Trustees of JEOF, Ademola Oladaiye, said the project, which cost N1.9m, was aimed at promoting a healthy environment and preventing possible outbreak of diseases and infections within the school.

He said the poor environment was worsened by a heap of refuse, which accumulated over the years, thereby constituting a health risk to children who are the most vulnerable.

He said, “Awoyaya Primary School was chosen without favouritism out of 10 schools visited in this axis with similar challenges. The school’s lavatory was in dire need of urgent attention as the water closets were broken, the septic tank was blocked and leaking, the sewage was full. The school also lacked water to keep the toilets clean. So, this is a campaign for healthy living.”

Commending Mobil for the initiative, he assured that the foundation would continue to monitor and inspect the refurbished toilets to ensure proper usage and maintenance.

He appealed to parents to teach pupils simple toilet manners and also pleaded with them to support the initiative by donating at least one tissue paper at the beginning of every school term. The local authorities were not left out as Oladaiye urged them to ensure proper management of the school’s waste.

The Programme Director of JEOF, Clare Henshaw, pledged that the foundation would continue to provide support to the needy through series of its educational programmes.

She said the foundation, established 2008 to immortalise the memory of the late Joseph Oladaiye, who cared about the less privileged was also targeted at celebrating his beautiful wife, Mrs. Eunice Talabi Oladaiye, who though gracefully ageing, has continued to nurture the ideals and legacies laid by her late husband.

Education Secretary, Etiosa Local Government Education Authority, Lukmon Taiwo, represented by Head of Service, Social Mobilisation, Mr. Gabriel Odunewu, commended the partners for their kind gesture, promising that regular supervision would be made to ensure good use of the facility.