Stakeholders task firms on importance of CSR

The significance of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to the social and economic development of the nation recently hit the front burner, as stakeholders’ enjoined corporate entities to deepen their community support projects.

Speaking from the development, Former Deputy Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, Tunde Lemo said corporate bodies and public-spirited individual should work with the government to make Nigeria a better place through involvement in Corporate Social Responsibility activities.

He made this known at the 15th PR Forum and CSR awards and brand exhibition of AS + A Communications in Lagos.

He stressed the need for firms to get involved in environmental friendly actions, human empowerment initiatives in order to secure a better future for individuals, the company and the humanity at large.

He added that some companies do the minimum to have it mentioned on the pages of newspapers but that it is not enough as the social safety net is not enough for the common man in the society noting that “we cannot depend solely on the government as we must work together to make our country a better place”.

His words: “We still remember Ken Sarowiwa and all the issues of the Ogonis, it is all because we did not do the right thing at the right time. If we did half of what we are doing today then, there would not have been militancy and that is a lesson for us that corporate bodies and public-spirited individuals should work hard to make country better. I love CSR and I think my activities in corporate social responsibility face must have been identified. I run a foundation that has provided scholarship, free clinic and other social services even from my own lean personal resources”.

Besides, Managing Director of AS +A Communications, Adenike Shobajo appealed to Nigerians to appreciate corporate organizations and individuals who give back to the society by helping government to add value to the society through the provision of social amenities, infrastructural facilities and provision of scholarship among others.

Shobajo in her speech, “often times, we do not see the positive impacts companies put in the environment they do business, just as we seem to take for granted, individuals who leave their comfort zones to add value to the lives of fellow Nigerians”.