NESTLEMARKS WORLD WATER DAY IN NIGERIA

Nestlé Waters mark 2015 World Water Day

 Mr Motayo Latunji, Project WET Coordinator, Nigeria; Mr Guy Bani, Nestlé Waters Manager, Africa; Mr Colman Akinwolere, Socialization Mobilization Director, State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Lagos and Mr Emmanuel Olu-Ayeni, CEO, StarBright Consulting at the Nestlé Waters 2015 World Water Day Celebration in Nestlé Agbara Factory.

In furtherance of her commitment towards promoting healthy hydration and water conservation in Nigeria; Nestlé Waters, the leading Healthy Hydration Company joined in the celebration of the ‘World Water Day’.

Speaking at the occasion, Guy Bani - Nestlé Waters Regional Manager for Africa said, “2015 is the sixth consecutive year that our company is celebrating World Water Day on a global scale: 34 countries, over 9,000 children and around 700 employees are involved behind this common motto: Together for Water!”

Water is a fundamental component of Nestlé’s Creating Shared Value focus areas, the other two being Nutrition and Rural Development. Creating Shared Value is Nestlé’s approach to sustainable business practices, and is based on the fundamental belief that for a company to be successful over the long term and create value for shareholders, it must also create value for society.

The event which took place at the Nestlé Waters Factory in Agbara brought together 100 pupils from schools in Kosofe and Alimosho Local Government Areas in Lagos, as well as delegates from the Ministry of Education to today’s event. The schools present will join other 80 schools that Nestlé has adopted to promote water stewardship and further expand Project WET – Water Education for Teachers in Nigeria.

Nestlé Waters and Project WET signed a new 4-year partnership.  “Two decades of support from Nestle Waters have enabled Project WET to bring hands-on, action-oriented water education to people in places that we could not have reached on our own. We are eager to continue to expand the scope of our work with Nestlé Waters in this renewed partnership” says Dennis Nelson, President and CEO of Project WET Foundation.

As part of the 2014 World Water Day program, the pupils and their teachers went on a factory tour to experience the production processes at the plant. In addition, a message from the CEO and Chairman, Nestlé Waters – Mr. Marco Settembri was shared with all participants on the need for everyone to actively engage in the conservation and preservation of our fresh water resources. The pupils, who were filled with enthusiasm, were educated on the importance of healthy hydration and water conservation by WET volunteers from Nestlé.

The activities involved five interactive games chosen from the Water Education for Teachers module, they included Life Box, Aqua Bodies, Go with the Flow, Blue Planet and 8-4-1, One for All. This was followed by an interactive questions and answers segment with Star Bright Consulting (an NGO partnering the implementation of Water Education for Teachers in Nigeria). The WET trainers also shared some practical steps and activities that pupils could carry out in school and at home in conserving water.

At the end of the event, certificates were presented to all participating schools. In his closing remarks, Guy Bani - Nestlé Waters Regional Manager for Africa advised that the water conservation habits imbibed by the pupils should be put into full practice at all times in order to preserve water for the future.

Nestlé is committed to work to achieve water efficiency across its operations, advocate for effective water policies and stewardship, treat the water it discharges from its factories, engage with suppliers, as well as raise awareness.  As part of the company’s effort in Creating Shared Value, Nestlé Nigeria provides safe drinking water for the people in Agbara community.

Dr Samuel Adenekan

Corporate Communications and Public Affairs Manager, Nestle Nigeria PLC