The foremost energy company and concessionaire of Kainji and Jebba hydro-electric plants on Tuesday launched a foundation to coordinate its humanitarian interventions. This was introduced at the inauguration of its members of the board of trustees at Transcorp Hilton, Abuja.
Called “Mainstream Charity Foundation,” the aim of the foundation, according to the MD/CEO, Engr. Lamu Audu, is to give the company the “leverage to focus on its core business of generating electricity” while the foundation takes over its Corporate Social Responsibility. “This occasion therefore symbolizes a form of formal homecoming as (Mainstream Energy Solutions Limited) has been over the years actively involved in evolving solutions and collaborating with the various communities towards solving crucial communal problems,” he said.
Speaking shortly after the MD/CEO, the Chairman of the Board of MESL, Colonel Sani Bello RTD, traced the conception of the charity to a consensus of shareholders. He said, “The shareholders wanted a focused and sustainable approach to Corporate Social Responsibility, hence the idea to set up a foundation that will pursue this objective separate from the Company’s main activity, which is power generation.”
The Chairman further revealed four “key areas” – education, health, the environment and community empowerment – in which the Foundation will provide “meaningful interventions.” He also introduced seven members of the board of trustees of Foundation, which he commended as a reflection of “the diversity of our country and also to ensure representation of the communities within our catchment areas.”
Members of the committee introduced are Mosun Bello-olusoga (Ogun State), Chairman of Access Bank; Ayisha Osori (Kogi State), lawyer and social commentator; Alhaji umar Farouq Bako (Kebbi), retired Civil Servant; Colonel Ayegbeni Peters RTD (Edo State), non-executive Director of MESL; and Alhaji Nuhu Abdullahi (Niger State), community leader and the Wazirin Borgu. Others are Alhaji Dunmoye Suleiman, a seasoned businessman form Kwara State and Siraj Abdullah, the Executive Director of MESL who represents the management of the company.