CSR: Why it is imperative for corporate organisations to give back —Boff & Company boss

The Chief Executive Officer of  Boff & Company Insurance Insurance Brokers  Limited, Chief Babajide Olatunde-Agbeja,  has  identified the need to support the government in alleviating  poverty in the country  and bring smiles to business environments, has made it imperative for corporate organisations and individuals to embark on  always give back to their immediate  operating environments.

Chief Olatunde-Agbeja, who made the call in Ibadan, recently, at the dedication of the Ibadan Boys’ High School’s Information Communications Technology (ICT) Room, donated by his company, argued that corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives had become very necessary, all over the globe, since it was becoming increasingly evident that the government alone does not have the wherewithal to fund the various challenges facing the governed.

He explained that the company’s decision to donate some ICT facilities to the school was  part of its corporate social responsibility initiatives, aimed at giving back to its operating environments, as it marked its 25 years of doing business in the state.

Besides supporting the government in its bid to providing qualitative education in the state’s public schools, the Boff & company boss, stated that the donation of the ICT room would  also help in keeping the  students  of the school abreast of developments  on the global ICT stage, while at the same time enriching their knowledge of ICT.

The former President of the Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB)  however lamented lack of adequate insurance policies for public buildings, such as government’s schools and hospitals, noting that such policies had become imperative since it frees up  government funds that would have been used to  replace or repair damaged assets, affected by natural disaster.

He attributed the inability of government to repair some public buildings and infrastructures affected by such disasters to the fact that there were no insurance covers for such properties.

The insurance guru decried the idea of government’s Ministries, Departments and Agencies going cap in hand to beg government for repairs of buildings or public utilities, affected by natural disaster, arguing that if such properties had been insured, the repairs would have been carried out by the insurance company, thereby allowing government to expend the scarce funds it would have used on this for other purposes.