THISDAY

ExxonMobil Reiterates Commitment to Malaria Eliminatio­n

- Olawale Ajimotokan

Exxon Mobil has vowed to sustain the fight against malaria in Nigeria.

The company’s General Manager, Public and Government Affairs, Nigel Cookey-Gam made the commitment during the 2019 Power Forward Basketball Initiative in Abuja recently.

Cookey-Gam noted that since 2000, more than 14 million bed nets, nearly three million antimalari­al treatments- reaching more than 125 million people worldwide had been distribute­d at Exxon Mobil supported programmes.

He added that in addition, the Power Forward pilot project supports the federal government’s National Malaria Control Programme’s advocacy on youth developmen­t and public health, and that it builds on efforts by the ExxonMobil malaria initiative to combat the scourge.

“The community investment programmes we support focus on capacity-building training, education and health, especially among youths and women. Our philosophy is that a productive, healthy and educated society is a better place to do business,” Cookey-Gam said.

He thanked their partners – the National Basketball Associatio­n (NBA), Women National Basketball Associatio­n (WNBA) and Africare for the contributi­ons toward sustaining the Power Forward programme in Nigeria.

Power Forward is a youth developmen­t initiative that teaches health literacy and life skills such as leadership, respect and personal responsibi­lity through basketball and other programmin­g to positively impact Nigerian secondary school students in Abuja.

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