As the coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to spread across countries of the world, the strain it puts on the society cannot be overlooked. The pandemic has halted a large percentage of economic activities with the larger bulk of the effects being felt by informal sectors. The ripple effect of this is an increasing level of poverty and hunger especially among vulnerable members of the society: the unemployed, the homeless, the aged, and those who survive on daily wages.
In light of this, the Executive MBA (EMBA 24) class of Lagos Business School has launched an initiative to provide relief materials to members of the society who are most hit by the effects of the pandemic. As many are unable to feed owing to a total lockdown of commercial activities in Lagos state, the EMBA 24 students delivered food items to 200 families in the Ikota and Yaba areas of the state.
Speaking on the impact of the initiative on these communities, class president, Jide Bamigbowu said, “The relief packages were sufficient to feed these 200 families for a week. We believe that the packages offered some comfort to the beneficiaries while it lasted. We could tell by the smiles on their faces that they appreciated the gesture and some of them even expressed to us that they felt a renewed sense of hope knowing they are remembered.”
In another phase of the initiative, the class delivered personal hygiene items to health workers who are working tirelessly to fight the spread of the virus and are most likely to contact it as they tend to patients in isolation centres.
On plans to extending the outreach, Eshalomi said, “The feeding project was a first for us and since it was very impactful, we are now considering partnering with Road 12 Support Foundation and some other NGOs to distribute materials such as food, clothing, books to underserved members of communities. We also intend to offer educational scholarships to children whose parents cannot afford to pay their school fees.”
She noted that the initiative was largely informed by lessons from the Ethics and Entrepreneurship sessions taken at Lagos Business School. “In Ethics classes, an emphasis was placed on thoughtfulness and consideration for the less privileged in the society. By extending helping hands to them, we believe that we help to make the society a better place, and in turn, we are rewarded with also making better, our own lives and those of family and friends. The satisfaction that comes from giving back to society is undeniable.”
Lagos Business School is an oasis of sanity that imparts values and knowledge in students who in turn, impact their immediate society and humanity by being solution providers.
