By Modupe Gbadeyanka
For 15 years, the inhabitants of Isokan community in Ogun State were in darkness after the public equipment that supplies electricity to their homes broke down.
Frantic efforts made by members of the area to reconnect them to the national grid so as to make their livers brighter were futile until a leading telecommunications services provider, Airtel Nigeria, intervened.
Today, the people of Isokan in Ogun State can now heave a sigh of relief and this is because Airtel Nigeria has positively touched the lives of young, old, men, women and every living thing in the community through its flagship television programme, Airtel Touching Lives.
“Airtel Touching Lives has really touched our lives beyond our imagination.
“It still feels unreal because we had been in this situation for so long and nobody came to our rescue.
“I just want to thank Airtel for such generosity. This means so much to the people of Isokan. May God bless Airtel always,” the Secretary, Electrification of Isokan Community, Mr Bamidele Olusegun Moses, who could not hide his joy, stated.
The ordeal of Isokan community was brought to the attention of Airtel Nigeria after a member heard about the Airtel Touching Lives initiative and beckoned on the organisation to intervene.
The story was featured in an episode of the award-winning show earlier in the year on national TV and showed community members narrating how livelihood had been adversely impacted over the years, throwing homes, families and businesses in distress.
During the moving episode, Airtel pledged to support the community with the sum of N7 million to bankroll the electrification project which had been abandoned due to lack of funds.
The telco has since delivered on its promise, restoring power to the community following the erection of 29 utility poles and connection of the high tension and low tension cables to the main power grid transformer.
This singular act of Airtel Nigeria has been applauded by residents of Isokan because the company has restored their long lost hope and has given hundreds of families a chance at a better life as businesses can now thrive with the prospect of stable electricity in the community.
“The Airtel Touching Lives initiative has a singular vision of providing relief for communities and individuals who require them.
“We are excited that life has returned to the Isokan Community and we will not relent in our efforts of reaching out to underprivileged persons and communities across the country,” the Director of Corporate Communications & CSR at Airtel Nigeria, Mr Emeka Oparah, said.
Airtel Touching Lives is an inspiring corporate social responsibility initiative that seeks to offer practical relief, succour, hope, opportunities and credible platforms to liberate and empower the underprivileged, disadvantaged and hard-to-reach persons in the society.
Recall that the company also transformed the life of a little boy, Master Sadiq Usman, who was kidnapped in 2016 and blinded by unknown persons suspected to be ritualists in Kaduna.
Airtel took up the boy’s case and today, as one of his teachers said, “Sadiq is one of our best students in the school –we have a nickname for him; we call him Professor.”
