Sumal: Setting the record straight

 

 

It looked like a scene from the infamous EndSARS protests. In July 2024, the major road leading to Sumal Foods Limited from the Mobil Bus Stop of Ring Road, Ibadan, was barricaded by protesting workers, hindering the free flow of traffic in the area.

 

The aggrieved workers were protesting over what they perceived to be a delay in the implementation of the palliative package for workers.

The protest turned violent, one of the factories was set ablaze, security agencies got involved and one worker died.

“One death was recorded during the violent protest,” the police said in a statement by the state Police Public Relations Officer, Adewale Osifeso.

“Their grouse, however, was that they were being denied the welfare package. Sadly, the protest was hijacked by criminal elements who forced their way into the factory, destroying vehicles and property worth millions of naira,” the statement added.

​Sumal Foods Limited, in the aftermath of the protest, immediately issued a statement refuting allegations that it refused to increase salaries of workers amidst the current inflation in the country and that it invited the security agents to stop the protesting workers.

The company affirmed in the statement that Sumal did not receive any subsidy relief in form of tax holiday or otherwise from any strata of government in Nigeria.

​It further stated that the company does not owe any worker, adding that following its agreement with the workers union, it implemented 13 per cent salary increment, and 3 per cent increase in basic salary to cushion the effect of fuel subsidy removal.

The statement further stressed, “Also, as from 14th December, 2024, an employee becomes entitled to 14 per cent general salary increase.

“Sumal immediately in December 2023 implemented the Collective Agreement and also increased the transport allowance of the workers by 6.63per cent. The second phase of the Collective Agreement is scheduled to start on December 14, 2024.

​“However, Sumal understanding the plight of the workers, implemented the second phase of the collective agreement from July, 2024 which has been communicated to the employees in June 2024.

“It is not correct that Sumal invited security outfits to stop the protesting workers. It is the practice that Police personnel are always stationed in the factory. The policemen did not interfere with the protest until hoodlums hijacked the protest and turned it to a riot.”

​To those who observe from the outside, the protest appeared to be justified for a company that has been rumouredby many to be a ‘slave camp’ where hard labour is extracted and rewarded with poor renumeration, despite providing readily-available and massive employment for thousands of people in Ibadan.

If employees work long, hard hours for a paltry salary as claimed, why should the company have long-serving staff and continue to stay afloat? Is there something going within this company that needs to be brought to light before another protest erupts?

Nigerian Tribune embarked on investigation to find out what really happens within the walls of the company.

 

How Sumal Foods started

Sumal Foods Limited was founded in 1981 by Mr SouhailJoseph Nassar with the production of Twist bubblegum and Robot chewing gum. In 1989, Mr Souhail Joseph Nassar and MrNouhad Joseph Nassar collaborated together and started Vital Foods Ltd, producing toffees, lollipops, candies, kahh drops with different varieties. In 1997, Mr Souhail Joseph Nassar and Mr Nouhad Joseph Nassar also collaborated, starting Yale Foods Ltd to produce a new range of biscuit, bread and wafer products.Yale Foods and Vital Foods come under the SumalFoods group.

 

Contract workers as victims?

Most of the complaints about Sumal Foods come from its alleged poor treatment of contract staff. Indeed, the protest was prosecuted by this category of workers.  Nigerian Tribune learnt that since casualisation was abolished in Nigeria’s labour space, Sumal Foods no longer has any casual staff. Furthermore, it was gathered that Sumal Foods does not employ contract staff directly, but engages them through service providers.

​During the recent protest, it was rumoured that these service providers were complicit in withholding the said palliatives due to their employees. Service providers were also alleged to shortchange contract staff in the payment of salaries.

​Joseph Shittu Kehinde of Atunwa Ventures Limited is a service provider for Sumal Foods Limited, providing labour that includes packers and some technical staff. “We have a good working relationship with Sumal,” he said. “If we have any issue, we sit down, discuss the solution and go ahead with production. What the company needs to provide for production, they do so at the right time.”

Asked if his workers were happy, he said: “They are happy because the company does not owe them. No worker is getting less than N70,000 which is in line with what the Federal Government has stated.”

​Frank Omonzokpia of Frank Omon Ventures Limited is also a service provider for Sumal Foods. He told Nigerian Tribune that “We have been paying this amount even before the Federal Government agreed to the new minimum wage. We have been paying over N70,000 minimum since the beginning of 2024. Sumal has been paying this amount here because of their good concern for workers.”

​Speaking on the latest protest by workers, Mr Kehinde said, “The agitation was not more than the palliative issue. Other things had been taken care of and they had no complaint about them. The company did not owe them and they were paying them well.”

​He attributed the confusion over palliatives to rumours that the Federal Government had paid palliatives to other manufacturing companies, leading the protesting workers to believe that Sumal Foods had received palliatives that had not gotten to workers. “That was the misunderstanding which was not true. This has been addressed and everyone is now at peace,” he said.

​There has also been the allegation that the service providers receive salary payments from the company in full and then pay the workers a pittance, having slashed a huge chunk for themselves.

​Responding, Mr Kehinde said, “This is not true. I am a labour man to the core. We cannot do that here. Every one of us is a Federal Government licensed service providers. When we negotiate the salaries of workers, separately, we tell the management what we want to take for service charge. We have no business touching their salaries. Moreover, their salaries are being paid directly into their accounts by management of Sumaland we are paid separately. There is no way their salaries will come to our account, so how will we have the opportunity to shortchange them?”

He said this method of paying salaries is not a recent one. “This has been for over 10 years I have been here.”

He added that before a worker is engaged, he is told how much to expect as salary. “No one is forced to accept the job. We have hours as regulated by the Federal Government – eight hours. Anything more than eight hours is overtime; and we pay. We do not owe anybody a dime. So, tell me where the slavery comes in?”

Going further, he said: “They have the right not to work anymore. At times, they leave abruptly without telling anybody and we don’t fight anyone because of that.”

Johnson Onyemechara of Jemeco Nigeria Ltd, who also provides labour for Sumal Foods, corroborated Mr ShittuKehinde’s position on the mode of salary payment. “SumalFoods has done the right thing and pays direct to the workers’ bank accounts,” he said.

Mr Omonzokpia, however, stated that “In any system, there are always antagonists – people who are not just happy that you exist. That is why you have this propaganda peddled in town to smear the image of Sumal. But when anyone who is really interested comes in to Sumal to find out, they discover it is different from what they heard. We are contending with some external forces that are not happy with the progress of this company irrespective of the enormous contributions the company is making to its immediate environment and society at large.

​”The protesting workers were brainwashed in town into thinking there was palliative meanwhile there was nothing like that. There was external influence in the whole story.”

He added that “This is one of the best paying companies in Ibadan. But it is good for right thinking people to come to Sumaland find out for themselves.

​“There is no discrimination between contract staff and permanent staff. Whoever is sick, whether contract staff or permanent staff, receives medical attention. Each time they review salary for permanent staff, that of contract staff is reviewed as well. There is also a period within which contract staff can be converted to permanent staff. These are some of the things that make this company unique.”

​The trio emphasised that as Federal Government licencedservice providers they do not employ casual workers; therefore, there are no casual workers in Sumal Foods.

​They added that contract staffs in Sumal Foods are covered by social and medical insurance. “The staff clinic here is like a standard hospital. If necessary, any injured person can be referred to a hospital outside and the costs are covered by Sumal,” the Jemeco boss stated.

​In his submission, Omonzokpia said: “Sumal does not compromise on insurance for workers. No service provider can be engaged by Sumal Foods without the ability to insure their workers. Sumal makes sure that every month you present evidence of paying premium for workers. The month you don’t show it, they’ll terminate your contract. So, every contract staff is seriously insured.”

​When it comes to belonging to cooperative society, he noted the labour turnover is usually high among most contract staff because “we have people who stay two months or three months like students. They just need a temporary job. It is erratic at that level, so the management will study to see those who want to stay and are ready to work. So, after one year and above, they select from them and staff them.When they are now staffed, they can join the cooperative.”

​Mr Shittu, however, noted that both contract staff and permanent staff are unionised. He said, “They both belong to the National Union of Food, Beverages and Tobacco Employees. Therefore, if anything happens, we communicate with the union.”

​It was gathered there exists a communication plan within Sumal that involves the management, service providers and all staff of the company, be they permanent or contract staff. This is in addition to meetings that take place between service providers and their contract staff.

“We gather them together to educate them on issues from time to time and we sample their opinion on issues. The challenge is that some of them mix with people in town and don’t sieve information. Some do come to us to clarify, and we tell them the true position of things. If there’s anything beyond us, we relate it to the management. Kudos to the management that always organises orientation when they join as well as regular safety talks,” Omonzokpia remarked.

 

‘Hearing from the horse’s mouth’

Nigerian Tribune sought the views of contract staff at SumalFoods to hear directly from them how they are being treated.

Alex Igbogu, a contract staff, has been working with the company since January 2024. Igbogu said that he was on afternoon shift on the day of the protest which started in the morning.

He spoke about the welfare for contract staff like himself at Sumal. “Anybody who has an injury will be attended to at the clinic. We are not being owed salaries. There is no time our money has been withheld.”

He added, “If you do have certain important things to attend to, they can give you a day off.”

Lookman Rilwan said that he has been with the company since August 2023. “Before the last incidence, the management has been doing its best – no delay of salary! Two days after the vouchers are signed we get paid, except the bank has issues. If there is any injury in the factory, there is a clinic to attend to us. Even when you are sick and there’s nowhere to go, you can easily come to the clinic and they will attend to you.”

​The duo affirmed that they work eight hour shifts and that there are three different shifts each work day – morning, afternoon and night shifts.

“We collect products every two months,” they added.

Igbobu added that he had hopes of gathering sufficient funds to start a barbing business soon. “I learnt barbing. I’m sure I will start of my business very soon,” he said.

Rilwan, on his part, said he had plans to start up a foodstuff business soon after his time at Sumal.

 

What of permanent staff?

Taiwo Adeoye is a permanent staff of Sumal Food Limited. He works as the general supervisor for the Cleaning Section. He told Nigerian Tribune that he started working for Sumal Foods over 32 years ago.

​He shared how the journey has been so far: “Firstly, I want to thank God Almighty that I am able to work in Sumal. I was ordinary before; all that I have acquired today is from Sumal. When I joined the company I was in one room. From there I proceeded to ‘room and parlour’. After that I got married. Later, with improvements I gained from the company, I bought land in a good area, here in Oluyole. I have built three houses today.”

​He noted that the narrative of poor salary and poor treatment was untrue. “They have never owed me a salary. Not me alone, others also! Even with the clumsy economy, Sumalstill pays us salary as at when due.”

He added “Work here is eight hours and we get paid for that. They also pay us for any overtime we do. We get paid as from the 15th of each month.”

Adeoye noted that the management often organises safety trainings, adding that safety warnings and instruction are strategically placed at different locations in the factory. “We go for seminars to educate us. I will 100 percent recommend Sumalas a place to work,” he added.

​Balogun Folorunsho is an electrical engineer working for Sumal for over 16 years. “It has been an honour to be in this reputable company. I relocated from Lagos without having any land. Today, I live in my own house in Oluyole. As a fresher in this company, I was without much experience three years after graduation.”

​He commended the company for its safety regulations, healthcare and welfare packages. He gave his perspective on those who spoke ill about working in Sumal, saying: “Most of the people who are denting this company’s reputation are those who have stolen from the company. If such a fellow who was caught with company property gets sacked, he will go out to spoil the name of the company. He won’t say the truth about his conduct. Most of them denting the image of the company have a bad record.”

Speaking on the last protest the company witnessed, he said: “I was not happy. There’s a saying that you don’t bite the fingers that feed you. Destroying company property and disrupting production time is not acceptable. I will not be happy if I gather funds today and start a company; then tomorrow someone comes to destroy it. If I don’t have any backup, I will lose everything. Those people, to me, want to sack me. If this company goes it will affect me!”

 

What the labour union said

Comrade Sunday Oladele is the branch chairman of National Union of Food, Beverages and Tobacco Employees (affiliated to the Nigerian Labour Congress) at Sumal Foods Limited. He told Nigerian Tribune: “Before we came into office, we signed an oath to protect the interests of the workers which God has been helping us to do. We have different sets of workers. Sumalaccommodates all sorts of workers. We have some companies that only employ graduates. But in Sumal, both graduates and non-graduates work here.”

​He said that with any assembly of different people comparison is bound to occur. “We have a school certificate holder that wants to earn what a graduate is earning. That’s not possible. Sumal is doing its best. We do eight hours shift; we used to run 12 hours shift but that was long ago. In terms of welfare, we have clinic here and hospitals to use outside including UCH (University College Hospital). These hospitals can tell you how much Sumal is spending on staff monthly.”

​”When it comes to salary payment, no contract staff earns less than N70,000 in Sumal,” the labour leader said.

He added that the Human Resources Department ensures that no expatriate mistreats any Nigerian worker. “We have a competent HR department that will not allow expatriates to treat Nigerians anyhow.”

He, however, added: “We have some people here whose behaviour is very bad. We try to correct them, but they will not listen. They tell series of lies.”

He said that the union intervened in cases where family members came to complain, and gave instances to support his point:

​”Recently, someone working here who told his wife that he earns N45,000, whereas his salary is over N200,000 – a permanent staff! What do you expect the wife to say outside? She would probably be saying that they (Sumal) are treating my husband badly; whereas she was wrong.”

​Giving another instance he said, “Somebody came here last week with twins complaining that her husband does not take care of them. We called the husband and interviewed him – someone who is earning about N187,000 does not care about school fees and feeding!

“We’ve had so many cases like that here. These are the people who spoil the image of the company outside.”

​Not done, he added: “During the protest, we shut down the factories and asked everybody to go home. Would you believe that a woman came some days after looking for her husband? She said, ‘my husband told me that for the past three days you people locked him inside the factory and did not let him go home!’ For a week, this man did not go home after we closed the factory and asked everybody to go home. He went somewhere and did not go home! These are the things that happen.

“If someone stole or committed a sackable offence, they would go about saying Sumal was bad to them!

“​The Oyo State House of Assembly was here with cameras to find out what’s going on here. We just watched. At the end, they were congratulating us for doing so well.”

​He explained that as a union, “we protect the job and protect the workers. If we don’t protect the job, where will the people work? We have to balance both sides, and that it is what we have been doing.”

He said that working in Sumal has been financially rewarding for him and others. “It is in this company, that I saw a contract staff who has built his own house – these are the serious ones. There are others who use their money to buy iPhones,” he said.

The labour leader noted that the company itself felt the economic hardship. High cost and non-availability of raw materials like flour and sugar meant that factories cannot produce optimally. “The company has its challenges. We aren’t saying Sumal is the best in the whole world. People can leave if they want.”

​Speaking on the protest, he said: “There was a rumour that the Federal Government gave palliatives to all the private companies. We made our findings, starting with 7-Up Company near us here. We contacted all our sister companies. We discovered there was nothing like that.

​”But like Oliver Twist, we went to ask for more from the management. We had known there were no palliatives from the government, but we asked the management to give us. That very day, they gave us palliative. But it seems like some workers had another motive. Before you knew it, they had gathered with hoodlums to destroy company property, and even the property of co-workers.

“The police arrested about 12 people. Among them, we found three people that were not our staff. Is it a crime that Sumalemployed graduates and non-graduates? How can a packer compare himself with an engineer who repairs machines?”

 

Management speaks

Tokunbo Ilori, Human Resources Manager at Sumal Foods Limited, made it clear that factory workers have eight-hour work schedule. “If you are on morning shift, you work from 6am to 2pm; afternoon shift is 2pm to 9pm; night shift is from 9pm to 6am. Why there is a difference of one hour between afternoon and night shifts is because we want the workers to go home on time because of their safety. So we agreed with branch labourunion to close the afternoon shift by 9pm so they can get transportation home. It rotates every week for all the workers so each of them benefits from it. There is a 30 minutes break to rest or eat. He said the palliatives given to the workers was not withdrawn at its expiration, rather it was added to the workers’ transportation allowance.

​He added: “The least paid worker, whether cleaner or packer will earn N84,500 as a staff. If you join as a contract staff, you earn at least N70,200 as of today.

​”Those who have stayed for more than three months, the salary differs depending on the years or months you have worked.”

He added that there are those who earn six to seven figure salaries depending on the section, expertise and level of education.

​The HR manager added that there are lots of welfare packages for workers being implemented. “After 12 months, you earn your leave bonus and go on leave; monthly sampling of products. If you are sick or injured you go to the clinic; if it is beyond the clinic, we send you to our retainer hospitals up to UCH depending on the seriousness of the issue. Salaries are paid on time. On or before the 15th you get your salary for the month,” Ilori added.

On why people had the impression that Sumal as company does not pay well, Ilori noted that some workers were not honest with their family about how much they earned.

​”Maybe because of some hidden agenda, they don’t want their wives to know the truth. It is such who give the company a bad name.”

​Giving an instance recently, he said, “We had to settle a case here between husband and wife. The wife came to report that for the past three months, her husband had not given her feeding money because according to her husband, the company was owing workers for three months! In the real sense, the company owes nobody. So, I had to show her the schedule that her husband had been paid on the 15th. This is how we have been tackling many of such issues. Sadly, those wives who are not aware will spread such lies that their husbands are working at Sumal without being paid.”

He, however, noted “Since 1981, when the company came on board, we have never owed salaries till date! You can verify from anybody.”

According to Ilori, all workers apart from NSITF insurance are fully insured with a private insurance firm. Also, there is a contributory pension scheme for the workers; Crusader Pensions being the custodian.

Mr Akin Akintayo, Group General Manager (Accounts) at Sumal Foods Limited, has been working for the company for over 27 years. “I can say categorically that this company is a very good company, not because I earn a salary here, but because I know it is good.”

He commented on the recent crisis, saying: “During the crisis we held a meeting with the stakeholders. I told them that whatever anyone does, he is going into reckoning with the Creator where everyone will stand in the Day of Judgment to answer for what they did when in position of authority. I cannot say because I am well paid, I shouldn’t care for others. I believe there is a reason God has placed me here. One of those reasons is to take care of people; and that we have been doing effectively. There are records from personnel, from everywhere to back up this claim.

He added that “I have some staff that I met here. If here was a slave camp, why do people stay long? Most of us are in our own houses! Go and look at our car parks! Why should I spend 27 years of my life here if it is not good? Initially, I gave myself three months to spend here when I joined. It’s been over 27 years and no regrets!

“Unfortunately, some people have made up their minds to malign the name of the company for whatever reason. We also confirmed that some of our competitors were involved. They paid people to destabilise the company, to go on radio and say a lot of wrong things. We have reasonable grounds to sue some persons who went on air, brought on miscreants who were never part of us and some staff that stole that were sacked.

“The rumour was that FG paid palliatives to private companies and they believed it.”

He recalled that in June, a month before the crisis, the managing director during a management meeting expressed his concern that things were hard in the country, and asked what could be done to help people. “We told him that salaries were being increased every two years. We do it in two tranches. The first tranche was done in 2023; the second one was due December 2024. He asked, why are you waiting till December? Do it now. I did the calculation and to him it will cost us additional N140 million per month, and we must pay six months. He said, so be it! Two weeks after, this people went on protest. He then asked, after what I have just done, is this what they use to repay me?

“They set fire to one of the factories. If it had burnt down completely where will the close to 1,000 workers that are there work? Note that for every worker, up to four people depend on him! This needs to be talked about.”

Moving on the GM stated that Sumal Foods Limited maintains uniform price for its products across the country using a price unification system similar to what the Federal Government had used for petroleum products before the market was liberalised. “We subsidise transportation so that you can sell the same price in Maiduguri that we sell here in Ibadan.”

Asked whether this does not impact on company profit, he said: “It does, but it is better we do this. Ours is a massive production. Yale Foods is the biggest biscuit company in Nigeria. SumalFoods factory that produces chewing gum is the largest in Africa. Vital Foods that produces lollipops, sweets and toffee is the smallest of our companies. Vital Foods has about 19 varieties of sweets, 25 brands of chewing gum and over 100 different brands of biscuit. We have about 10 brands of wafers and bread in different sizes. We employ and produce massively to feed the country.”

 

A place for women

When Nigerian Tribune began its fact finding mission to SumalFoods, there was word about the management of the company accepting female workers as part of its factory workers once the necessary conditions and amenities for them were put in place.

Interestingly, before press time, Sumal Food had made good its intention.

​Mr Ajayi, Group Human Resources Manager, SumalFoods, said the initiative has created yet another stream of massive employment for women.

​He said, “It has generated a lot of employment for these women. We have made sure to comply with Federal Government directives and policies. We give them working hours of 6am to 2pm for now. This is until the Ministry of Labour and Productivity gives us the go ahead to start afternoon and night shift. For now it is still one shift — morning duty.”

Ajayi added, “As for the salary structure, it’s the same with their male counterparts. And we also made sure to employ female security officers who will do the search on them when coming in and out of the factory.”

​Some of the newly employed female staff spoke on their experience so far working at Sumal.

As for Jenny Okhoro, she said, “I am from Delta State. I have been in Ibadan for the past 15 years. I am married with kids. Since I started working with Sumal, as part of their staff, it’s been enjoyable. I work in the production department, packaging and finishing units. Working at Sumal has thought me a lot of things especially in safety and precautionary measures. I was also taught how to maintain and work with the machines.”

She explained that her male counterparts have been very welcoming to them and put them through on work etiquette.

​”I want to appreciate Sumal for giving me the opportunity to work with them. I can now support my family,” she said.

​Another female factory worker is Mrs Olorunfemi Abike. “I am from Osun State. I have been in Ibadan for 20 years and I’m married with kids. I started working with Sumal on December 1, 2024 and since then it’s been a smooth journey for me. I am so excited to come to work every day because I like the atmosphere that Sumal has created for us to work.”

​Speaking further she said, “For me, I would like the public to know that Sumal is a great place to work. Should they get any opportunity to work here, they won’t regret it.”

Celebrating her new found empowerment, she said, “I will now be able to do things for myself without waiting for my husband with my salary that is constant and that come every two weeks.”

​”I would say that bringing the women into Sumal to work has changed a lot of things especially here in the factory where it is male dominated,” said Mr Tokunbo, the Human Resources Manager.

“It has made the men to sit up and focus more on their appearances which was not so in the past.

​”Some are now more serious with the fear that their job can be taken away from them. But we have assured them that nothing of such will happen. The women coming in is to support them and provide gender equality. In fact, there is healthy competition between male and female counterparts.”

​The factory manager, Mr Tade Bankole, said: “Initially I thought that being ladies, they may not be able to do the work because it requires strength which we all know men possess more. But they have amazed me with the way and manner they quickly fit in. And ever since I haven’t had cause to worry or complain about their work. They are respectful, focused and cooperative. I commend the management for this move which is an empowerment for women. It is another way of supporting the government on job creation. With these jobs, they are now able to support their spouses and family, and be respected in the society.”

 

Sumal is social

Sumal Foods has, for decades, engaged in documented and verifiable social programmes that positively impact its immediate community and beyond. Recently, a community hall that sits 500 persons was built by Sumal Foods for the neighboring Orelope community.

In addition, Sumal Foods made a donation of N2 million to support a riverside community in Oluyole to acquire a transformer.

Grading access roads, sponsorship of sporting activities in schools and communities have been carried out by the company.

​Following the flooding in 2024, there was a high-power delegation from Sumal Foods that visited the Borno State governor to sympathise with the victims, and to donate two trailer loads of bread and biscuits valued at N50 million, along with cash.

​Speaking on the company’s CSR activities, Mr Akintayosaid, “When the bridge collapsed in Oluyole, we reconstructed it. Over the years, there has been flooding in Oluyole. We embarked on a channelisation project that cost us N50 million.

​“Before now, there used to be a lot of accidents around Ring Road area, so we constructed bus stop sheds, six or seven of them. Each cost about N5 million. We did this to safeguard the lives of people.

“We have catchment areas for communities around us for employment; some asked for scholarships and we responded.

​“There was a year we got a letter from the Ministry of Works to thank us for what we are doing. During COVID pandemic, we donated trailers of biscuit and bread to Oyo State. These are things we do from time to time.”

​Meanwhile, the chairman of Oluyole Riverside Community Landlords Association, Adekunle Aderibigbe has commended the management of Sumal Foods for the support that the community has received from them. He said that when his community requested for assistance to get a backup transformer to support the existing one because there was much pressure on the one in use, Sumal Foods came to their aid.  

​In his words: “I sincerely on behalf of the landlords and residents of the Oluyole Riverside community thank SumalFoods for their benevolence towards our project to get a backup transformer. The way they responded to our appeal without delay is very laudable. We really thank them. We also want to commend them for the road repair they carried out on the Mobil/Seven-Up Road to make it accessible.”  

Regarding the construction of a town hall for the Orelopecommunity in Oluyole where Sumal’s operations take place, the secretary of the community association, Mr Ralph Bamidele, who spoke on behalf of the chairman, said that the hall has been serving its purpose since its construction in 2014.

​He said, “I sincerely on behalf of our chairman, Mr GbengaIbikunle, and the people of Orelope community, thank Sumal for their magnanimous gesture. The quality of materials used in construction of the hall is very high. It has been serving its purpose till date. It’s really very charitable of them. I’m happy to finally get this avenue through the media to thank them wholeheartedly. God bless Sumal.”