Dangote Cement and President of International Network for Corporate Social Responsibility (IN-CSR), Mr. Eustace Onuegbu, are among individuals and organisations who bagged Sustainability and Social Impact awards at this year’s CSR Reporters Philanthropic award.

Onuegbu was honoured alongside other awardees at the Social Impact Award for 2021 organised by CSR Reporters, Nigeria’s leading Social Responsibility Magazine and Africa’s First All-Corporate Social Responsibility Publication. The CSR Reporters awards is aimed at encouraging corporates, corporate foundations, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), governments and public sector undertakings, individuals and groups to deliver high impact CSR projects and adopt a multi-stakeholder approach leading to excellence in project outcomes and measurable social impact. It is also aimed at appreciating organisations and individuals who have dedicated their time and resources towards building a better society for all.

Onuegbu, who is also the Head, Supply Chain Sustainability Academy, Africa, won the award for his relentless work in the sustainability space. Delivering a keynote at the event with the theme “Celebrating Social Responsibility and Sustainability Front Runners, Onuegbu stated that close members of his circle can attest to his passion for sustainability as well as his enthusiasm for what the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) can do for humanity.

He said: “In as much as it is vital to implement these global frameworks, it is also important to note that the SDGs are not just an additional plan for the world, nor do they replace the specificity and detail of existing international agreements. Rather, they are a shared vision of a world which according to the United Nations (UN) can be termed as the ‘vision piece’ of the globalisation puzzle.”

According to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) report, nearly half of the world, 75 nations representing 37 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), are planning to take more climate action than they have already promised in their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), that is, their national climate pledges. This is to address some of the recent catastrophic disasters around the world which have been linked to climate change. Currently, 71 countries are still deliberating, including many of the biggest greenhouse gas emitters, while 14 countries indicated they had no plans to revise their NDCs.

In line with this, President Muhammadu Buhari in his speech at the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly mentioned that Nigeria has developed its home-grown Integrated Sustainable Development Goals model (iSDG Model) – an analytical framework for assessing how policymaking can better address the indivisible nature of the SDGs.

He went on to say it is however clear that there is still a lot of work to be done in order to confidently say we are on track to achieve the 2030 agenda both in Nigeria and many other countries.

Onuegbu said we are way beyond measuring poverty based on only GDP terms, stating that it is important to note that the 169 targets supporting the SDGs are the various 169 ways of explaining how no one should be left behind. “To illustrate better, it implies that these 17 goals and 169 targets for which indicators exist, and monitoring systems are being set, in all, forms the basis of a new social contract between the world’s leaders, the business community and the people,” he said.

He seized the opportunity to congratulate every awardee for their great work and commitment in the social impact and sustainability space stressing that sustainability has now become the new normal, requiring organisations to go beyond compliance and charity to internalise their negative externalities. Onuegbu further challenged the awardees to realise that the award is a pointer to the fact that people are watching what they do, therefore the recognition should act as the catalyst needed to do more and ensure the achievement of a more sustainable world.

The awardees include: Chief Allen Onyema, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Air Peace Airline as Philanthropic Person of the Year, Dr. John Momoh, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Channels Media Group as Social Impact Media Entrepreneur of the year 2021, Otunba Adeniyi Adebayo, Minister, Industry, Trade and Investment as Sustainable Investor Public Servant of the year, Mr. Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu, Lagos State Governor as the Social Impact Political Leader of the Year, Hajiya Sadiya Umar Farouk, Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development as Social Impact Woman of the year, Mr. Umana Okon Umana, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Oil and Gas Free Zones Authority as Social Impact Public Servant of the year, Justice Nelson Ogbuanya, Judge of the Industrial Court, as Social Impact Judge of the year, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa, Chair/Chief Executive Officer, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) as Good Governance Pulic Servant of the year, Ms. Eunice Sampson, Director, Learning and Development, the Association of Sustainability Professionals of Nigeria (ASPN) as Sustainability Change Maker of the year, and Dr. Edwin Isotu-Edeh, Environmental Health Consultant, World Health Organisation (WHO) as Sustainability Health Consultant of the year.

Others are: Dr. Seyi Paul Oshodi, Founder/Chief Executive Officer, Oshodi Arts & Gallery as Culture Ambassador of the year, Titilope Ngozi Akosa, Executive Director, Centre for 21st Century Issues (C21st), Dr. Sunday Akinbola, Publisher, Hero Magazine as Social Media Personality of the year, Dr. (Mrs.) Gloria Diri, First Lady of Bayelsa State as Social Impact First Lady of the Year, DCC Mwuese Ogagua Lizzie Ekpendu, Deputy Controller, Nigeria Correctional Centre, Kirikiri Female Section as Social Impact Head of Service of the year and Prof. Jerry Tsware Barminas, Director General/Chief Executive Officer, National Research Institute for Chemical Technology (NARICT) as Social Impact Head of Government Agency of the Year.

Different Corporates and non-governmental organisation were also awarded and they include: Dangote Cement Plc for the Social Impact Manufacturing Company of the year, IHS Towers for Social Impact ICT Company of the year, and AIICO Insurance winning the Philanthropic Insurance Company of the year.

Other awardees are: Suleiman Abbas, Director, Environmental Assessment Department, Federal Ministry of Environment as Public Servant of the year, Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello, Niger State Governor as Social Impact Governor of the Year, Fidelis Duker, A native of Henshaw Town, Calabar, Cross River State as Philanthropic Entertainment Personality of the Year, Chief Solomon Ogbonna Aguene, President, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Lagos State as Philanthropic Socia-Cultural Personality of the Year, and Barrister Monday Ubani, Legal Practitioner and Principal Partner of the Law Firm of Ubani & Co as the Philanthropic Legal Personality of the Year.

The International Network for Corporate Social responsibility (IN-CSR) is an international team of Corporate Sustainability and Responsibility (CS&R) Consultants and Corporate Human Rights Advocates working to promote best practices in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Source:- Guardian Newspaper