6th February, 2017
The Chief Executive Officer of Airtel, Mr Segun Ogunsanya, has called on kind-hearted Nigerians to join the telecommunications company in uplifting the underprivileged in the society.
Ogunsanya made the call in Lagos, during the premiere of the Season 3 of ‘Airtel Touching Lives’, a philanthropic programme sponsored by Airtel Nigeria.
He said that the ‘Airtel Touching Lives’ served as a platform to promote the culture of giving, self-sacrifice, love and charity among Nigerians.
“The initiative is designed to offer practical relief, succour, hope, opportunities and credible platforms to liberate and empower the underprivileged, disadvantaged individuals, families and communities in the Nigerian society,” he said.
He said that the initiative had continued to record tremendous success since it was launched in 2015.
Ogunsanya said that over the years, the accomplishments had become the encouragement that the telecommunication company needed to keep the show coming back every year.
“Following a successful and widely acclaimed two seasons of the programme, Airtel Nigeria in September last year, announced the Season 3 of the Touching Lives CSR programme.
“Airtel has subsequently received thousands of entries and nominations in form of email, SMS and letters.
“Airtel believes that to be a great company it must be good company and we are very much committed to earning our social license which is the love and acceptance of the people we serve.
“We are inspired to continue to touch the lives of underprivileged Nigerians through this platform and to also motivate other privileged people to contribute their quota in making our society better.
“We call on like-minded Nigerians to join this noble cause of giving back to the society,” he said.
He said that Airtel believed that there were many kind-hearted, empathetic and selfless Nigerians willing to give succour to underprivileged people.
Ogunsanya said that the Season 3 would feature stories of how the plight and despair of the people had been turned to optimism by Airtel Nigeria.
Airtel Touching Lives is a reality television show which has been broadcast on satellite and terrestrial networks across the continent since 2015.
Each season, the programme follows the journey of who are nominated by email, SMS or letters, and documents of Airtel’s process of providing tailor-made assistance to each of them.
In the previous season, assistance was given the Centre for Disability, a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) whose work was to help physically challenged individuals access life-improving aid.
Another recipient of the Airtel Touching Lives assistance includes Mr Essien Obong, a mathematician and software engineer, who had become blind from injuries inflicted on him by armed robbers.