In line with its long-standing commitment to support its stakeholders and communities, the Nigerian Bottling Company (NBC) Limited, has donated a newly built a block of classrooms to LEA Primary School in Karon Magiji, Abuja. 
Speaking during the formal handover of the tastefully finished blocks, the District Head, Chief Yunusa Bako Abdullahi, commended the gesture by the foremost Consumer Packaged Goods company and bottlers of Coca-Cola products in Nigeria, saying the community would continue to cherish the support.
“What NBC has done for LEA Primary school is very commendable, particularly because building a decent learning environment for our pupils had been a major challenge for us. We consider this a major investment in the future of our children, the leaders of tomorrow,” he said.
Similarly, Headmistress of the school, Mrs. Abigael Eulus, described the new classroom blocks as a major relief for the pupils who hitherto, had been learning in overcrowded classrooms.
“We are very happy with the new classrooms. The children are a lot happier, and understandably so. Before now, many of them had to share a desk or write on their laps. This had made learning pretty difficult for them.
“So, you can understand why we are so happy with this support from NBC. God will bless NBC for this,” she said.
Public Affairs and Communications Director, Nigerian Bottling Company (NBC), Mr. Ekuma Eze said over the years the Coke System in Nigeria, comprising NBC and The Coca-Cola Company, has continued to lead the charge in private sector contributions towards education and human capital development in Nigeria, doing so through a wide range of interventions.
“According to the United Nations, “Education enables upward socioeconomic mobility and is a key to escaping poverty”. As a good corporate citizen, we also believe that a community’s level of development reflects the extent and quality of education of its people. This gesture underscores our commitment to supporting our communities and people to build a sustainable, secure, and rewarding future.
“With Nigeria accounting for nearly 20 percent of the total out-of-school children in the world, critical interventions in education, particularly by the private sector would be important to secure the future of the country’s children. Over the years, we have taken the responsibility to make a support educational advancement and youth development in Nigeria, as seen from our various educational development programs across the country, such as the Nigeria Business League for Youths which we are pioneer members of, and the Youth Empowered program”.
The Catholic Herald takes on a refreshed identity
The Catholic Herald Weekly hit the newsstands on Sunday in a refreshed brand identity. The rebranding aims to reflect the paper’s revitalized strategic direction to meet the future needs of its target audience.
The vision has been broadened to cater for the larger society. Pursuant to this vision, The Catholic Herald Weekly is now better positioned as a social crusader and moral justice platform to address national issues and bring about necessary changes to make the society a better place in addition to significantly retaining its core values of speaking to the spiritual concerns of Catholics.
The smart new look is in tandem with the needs of its readers and advertisers, identifying with the newspaper’s existing core strengths, incorporating new trends and refashioning them for today’s fast-paced browsers. After an extensive creativity redevelopment process, the rebranded paper has been made more striking, reader-friendly, and most importantly, unmistakably The Catholic Herald Weekly.
According to the Director of Social Communications, Archdiocese of Lagos, Rev. Fr. Anthony Godonu, the reenergized design has made the paper stronger with an enhanced personality, accomplished through finer details of contrasting font types and colours that adhere to The Catholic Herald Weekly typography sensibilities.
“The mix of ‘Old English’, an ancient calligraphy with ‘Arial’, a more modern font depicts the generational milestone between the original Church tradition and modern trends. Though the Church came into being following the teachings of Christ, it has continued to adapt to generational needs without diluting the essence of the original doctrines to winning souls.
Likewise the new look has been created to uphold the Catholic Church’s flexible culture of evangelization against the backdrop of the many emergent social vices associated with modernization”, he stated.
The Catholic Herald Weekly, almost a century old has once again been rebranded to establish itself as a news brand of fortitude, strength, dynamism and innovation.
The principal colour red is apt. You can’t fault it in the Catholic and secular domains. Surveys have shown that red is the colour mostly associated with courage. Red in the Catholic Church symbolizes the passion of Christ. It is worn by the clergy during the feasts of the martyrs, Good Friday, Palm Sunday, and the Pentecost. In the Western countries, red is a symbol of martyrs and sacrifice, particularly because of its association with blood. Cardinals wear red to symbolize the blood of Christ and Christian martyrs.
Explaining further, Godonu said, “The red on the masthead therefore has a correlation with courage to stand for the truth which is the sole character of good journalism not minding that such stance could attract unpleasant consequences like it happened to Christ on the Cross and other Catholic religious martyrs of old.”
In the branding world, red is the colour of heightened emotion, strength and power. It’s invigorating, intimidating and never boring. This ultimately translates to the fact that the paper will become more visible, attractive and command profound presence that would immediately stand out in the pack. A distinguished presence stimulates instant readers’ interest and purchase.
It is also a colour that will arrest attention on the social media platforms such that the device target audience cannot afford to swipe pass without stopping to look at the paper.
CSR: NGO doles N2.1M to widows
It was joy and prays worship unto God by widows and widowers numbering over 350 that gathered penultimate last week, under the auspices of HEALING HEART FOUNDATION, a non-governmental organization (NGO), reputed for training and catering for the welfare of widows and widowers in the society.
Venue was Banex plaza, number 15/17, Abimbola Street, Isolo industrial Estate, and also the headquarters of all the nine chapters of the NGO whose activities started many years ago.
The annual celebration tagged ‘’mega feast’’ according to the organizer was to better the life and inspire hope of the widows in the new year and going forward, The foundation disclosed that a whopping sum of N2.1M was spent for the mega Christmas feast to purchase items ranging from: rice, spaghetti, indomie, beans and other essentials, all in a bid for the widows to celebrate Christmas and be happy throughout this special season that the whole world is celebrating, despite the economic realities on ground.
With nine zones namely: Amukoko, Ejigbo, Ojuelegba, Ikeja, Mafuloku, Oshodi, Isolo, Ijesha, Orile and Ilasamaja, all in Lagos, the Healing Heart Foundation promoter explained that, the future is bright for all those that are ready to run with the vision of the NGO and put into practice what they are taught during training and empowerment programs organised from time to time.
The founder of the NGO, Rev (Mrs), Sophy Nwanneka Mbanisi, an Anambra born philanthropist, thanked God Almighty for the vision saying that the annual thanks giving with the widows is a yearly tradition whereby all the zones gather to thank God for all His benevolence and mercies.
She explained that this year, 2020 annual feast was peculiar due to the challenging times that has affected the economy adversely coupled with the ravaging Corona virus pandemic according to her also that has crippled the economic activities globally that has resulted to hunger and misery.
‘’ I feel for the masses, government cannot do it alone, the government may have good intensions but some people will be jeopardizing the efforts of the government. Individuals should be able to support the efforts of government towards ensuring that Nigerians have food to eat.
Healing Heart is an organization I am running because it is my lot in life. I believe in life that God has shared out responsibilities, positioning us on the path to fulfilling destinies. I grew up to know myself, always full of empathy for people and in the course of my growth, I lived with a woman who was a philanthropist to the core. In her house, she runs a prayer ministry and every blessed day, food was cooked and shared to people as if she was holding a party. Part of her life robbed off one me, you can’t enter her house and not eat and take away. Every festive period, mother’s day, Christmas etc, she had loads of food to churches, schools. I saw that growing up and I ran with it