Polaris Bank deepens community campaign over COVID-19 preventive measures

 By Menidin Egbo

Under a special Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Give Back Sensitization Programme, Polaris Bank Company has deepened its campaign effort to effect preventive measures against the spread of COVID-19 in communities across the bank’s operational areas. 

Prof. Nlerum Sunday Okogbule

 

 With the theme of its campaign as: “The COVID-19 Pandemic –Its Preventive Measures,” Polaris, in partnership with Rivers State University (RUS) in Port Harcourt, has successfully concluded one session of its grassroots health-protection crusade at the Rivers State University (RSU) on Friday, October 9, 2020.

 Prof. Nlerum Sunday Okogbule, Vice-Chancellor of RSU, thanked Polaris Bank for choosing the university community for the programme under the trending boardroom charity focus of reaching out to corporations’ host communities with improving CSR package of goodwill. According to the Vice-Chancellor, the effort by Polaris Bank provides one opportunity of re-emphasizing for the benefit of Rivers State University, the control measures against COVID-19 as issued by Nigeria’s National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).Warning that the COVID-19 pandemic is real, Prof. Okogbule re-iterated that RSU has complied with the preventive measures under the Rivers state committed effort to ensure that the pandemic is prevented from spreading in the state. “All the 10 points of the control measures recommended by the state ministry of education” have been complied before resumption of the university on Monday, October 5, 2020, Prof. Okogbule stated, while stretching to participants at the university campus “Amphi Theatre” venue of the awareness campaign that students and members of the public should disregard insinuations purported to gainsay the reality of the COVID-19 pandemic.

 The Vice-Chancellor pleaded with students to “try and comply with the prevention measures” against the CORVID-19 pandemic. He particularly emphasized that there is evidence that the spread of the virus ravaging parts of the global community is supported by claims of the World Health Organization (WHO). In his opinion, there is basic reason for all to disregard any contrary claim to the available facts.

 Polaris Bank Head, Business Development at RSU, Mr. Wokoma Lolomarre, thanked the authorities of RSU for taking the good path of complying with all necessary measures for preventing the health and wellbeing of students and other members of the university community against the spread of COVID-19. He commended the university authorities for the resumption of the institution after the long period of lockdown. He equally thanked the authorities of RUS for good stewardship in running the affairs of the institution, especially across improving social relationships enhanced benefits for the university community.

 In delivering an awareness campaign presentation on CORVID-19 pandemic, Mr. Lolomarre told participants of the event that Polaris Bank is conscious of the needs of its communities. According to him, the bank is sensitive to the plight of the management and students of the institution under the challenge posed by the pandemic. Polaris Bank is committed to support “your effort to overcome the challenges” of the COVID-19, he said.

 Mr. Lolomarre’s lecture pointed out that the institution, students, and the general society are left with no option than to adopt the preventive measures approved for combating the spread of the pandemic. Accordingly, the lecture called for members of the public to embrace a new norm of adopting hygienic lifestyle to prevent the spread of COVID-19 among the various populations in Nigeria. Polaris Bank, openly revealed the fact that it cherished the RSU community, and demonstrated it with the presentation of 1000 facemasks to the institution. At the RSU venue of the awareness campaign, the V-C also unveiled two “Polaris-branded Hand Sanitizing, Soap and Water Dispensing Machines” presented to the university by the bank.

 The gesture of Polaris Bank in making the presentations to RSU, bank officials explained, was part of effort at promoting the growth of mutual relationship between the two corporate bodies, the bank and the academic institution. The bank  official told our reporter that Polaris believes that its goodwill gesture in corporate social responsibility include the cause of encouraging performance for improving delivery of  benefits, and services of value to its communities.

 Commenting on the good gestures of Polaris Bank, a second-year female student of mass communication of RSU, Ms. Blessing Markson, told our reporter that students were impressed by the programme of re-enforcing sensitization around combating CORVID-19 in the campus. According to her, other corporate bodies should emulate to do what Polaris Bank has brought to the university community.

Another second-year female student of management, Ms. Rasim Princess Ndidi, said she was highly delighted with both the RSU university authority and the students for the level of response to the effort of combating theCORVID-19 pandemic. The university was “well-prepared for implementing the preventive measures against the pandemic before resumption of academic activities, as I arrived to see,” she told our reporter. On the part of the students, they were “unlike other times when they often proved difficult to comply with commonly issued recommendations.” This time around, she said, “I saw the students as very well prepared to comply with the CORVID-19 regulations.”