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Ovaltine, DHL Express take beverages to IDPs in Yola

By Kenechukwu Ezeonyejiaku
30 July 2015   |   2:15 am
Touched by the plight and nutritional needs of Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) around the country, occasioned by the nefarious activities of the Boko Haram terrorists, Twinings Ovaltine Nigeria Limited, and DHL Express, announced an initial 12-month strategic joint partnership, aimed at alleviating the sufferings of these people through the donation and subsequent transportation of tonnes…

OvaltineTouched by the plight and nutritional needs of Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) around the country, occasioned by the nefarious activities of the Boko Haram terrorists, Twinings Ovaltine Nigeria Limited, and DHL Express, announced an initial 12-month strategic joint partnership, aimed at alleviating the sufferings of these people through the donation and subsequent transportation of tonnes of Ovaltine products worth millions of naira to IDPs camps, starting with Yola in Adamawa State.

Under this strategic joint partnership between the two companies, DHL agreed to be shipping half a tonne of Ovaltine products every month to this camp for the next 12 months, all-free of charge.

As of April 2015, Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) estimated that over 1,538,982 people forced to flee their homes in Nigeria were still living in internal displacement. This figure includes people displaced as a result of brutal attacks by the Islamist armed group Boko Haram in north-eastern Nigeria, the government-led counterinsurgency operations against the group, ongoing inter-communal clashes and natural hazard-induced disasters.

Speaking at a joint press conference by the two companies in Lagos last week, General Manager, Twinings Ovaltine Nigeria Limited, Enrico Liggeri and the Managing Director, DHL, Randy Buday said the two organisations were leveraging the partnership to amplify their Corporate Social Responsibility commitment in Nigeria.

Liggeri, who frowned at the fact that this is happening in a country recently rated as number one economy in Africa, said that as responsible corporate organisations, both companies recognized that this is the right time to respond to the plight of the IDPs because they require their collective support and empathy at this critical moment of their life.

He revealed that the product developed in Switzerland in 1865 by a physician with the sole aim of providing nutrition to children who are dying below the age of five was touched in particular by the displaced persons’ need for highly nutritious food most especially children, nursing mothers and aged people in order to keep them strong and healthy as government at all levels continue efforts for their permanent resettlement.

According to him, ‘‘This gesture by Twinings Ovaltine and DHL Express is all about responding to the humanitarian need of the displaced persons at this critical moment of their life. We feel their pain and the need to be provided with nutritious food so they can remain healthy and be able to live an active life in spite of their current predicament.’’

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