By Princewill Ekwujuru

Every September 5 has been designated the ‘International Charity Day’ by the United Nations, UN. The maiden edition this year had Mr. Ban Ki-Moon, Secretary-General of the UN urging mankind to donate, volunteer and act with kindness for the betterment of the human race.

In a special message, Ki-Moon noted that “charity plays an important role in upholding the values and advancing the work of the UN,’ charging the world, individuals and corporate organisations to embrace charity, whilst admitting that charity could even have a down side because there are ‘times when charity gets dismissed, as if it is ineffective, inappropriate or even somehow demeaning to the recipient.”

These issues took centre stage because UN’s General Assembly, in 2012, declared September 5 the International Day of Charity, in recognition of its key role in alleviating and ameliorating human suffering, as well as the role of charitable organisations and individuals in making the world a better place.

To underline the human angle, the date was chosen in honour of Mother Teresa, “whose life and good works for some of the poorest and most vulnerable inspired emulation across the world.”

The world body has been contending with several humanitarian issues over the years and might have realised that “government cannot do it alone” as volunteered by Her Excellency, the wife of the Executive Governor of Ogun State, Mrs. Funsho Amosun, represented by Olufunmilayo Adesegun, wife of the Deputy Governor at the commissioning of Guinness Nigeria Plc’s Safe Water for Africa (SWA) project in Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State recently.

The aptness of public spirited acts like the SWA and the massive impact Mother Teresa made across the world shows that government and its agencies cannot surmount the onerous issues confronting mankind.

Perhaps, the failure of governments and their allies like the UN is what highlights the efforts, sacrifices and successes recorded by a reverend sister that endeared herself to the world beyond race, religion and nationality.
A woman who by calling belongs to the world by the things she did ought to be recognised particularly at this time that the world has about 1,000 days of action to reach the eighth anti-poverty target of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs ) and its sustainable development agenda.

Since charity begins at home, it would be nice to reckon with the Mother Teresas of Nigeria, both individuals and corporate bodies. Guinness Nigeria in pursuit of its corporate social responsibility objectives put together two activities in Ogun and Lagos states, both in South-West Nigeria, to bring the message of the maiden International Day of Charity home.

The SWA and the Motor Park Health and Safety Sensitisation and Awareness Campaign held on September 4 and 5 in Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State and Gbagada Motor Park, Lagos, respectively fits in with the initiative of the UN on the MDGs.

The SWA is a regional community safe water initiative led by Diageo Plc, the Coca-Cola System and Water Health International (WHI) in collaboration with the International Finance Corporation (IFC).

Guinness embarked on the SWA initiative with the conviction that businesses can play an active role in enriching healthy, economic and social lives of people in local communities.

Explaining the rationale for the initiative, Mr. Seni Adetu, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Guinness Nigeria, hinted that “At Guinness, we believe in making a positive impact in society and as a socially responsible corporate citizen, we are always looking for ways to make a difference sometimes with initiatives that we carry out on our own and at other times with credible partners as is the case with the SWA initiative.”