Guinness Nigeria Plc has unveiled an initiative to take corporate social responsibility a notch higher with a plan of continuous engagement with graduates from its scholarship programme to help them attain their goals. The initiative, tagged Guinness Ex-Scholars Excellence Programme (GEEP) was unveiled recently at the company’s head office in Lagos.
Sesan Sobowale, Corporate Relations Director, Guinness Nigeria Plc said “the initiative is to engender firmer and continuous association with the members of the scholarship scheme who are akin to extended members of the Guinness family. We want to continue to work with them beyond their graduation so that they can have a truly robust educational experience. The platform will allow the ex-students to network with each other and will also give them access to learning resources that can help them as they get into the working population.”
Adrianne Nwagwu, Head, Sustainability and Responsibility, Guinness Nigeria Plc, explained that the alumni is a first of its kind which would make the ex-scholars of Guinness Nigeria Plc realise that the company has a stake in them and is prepared to make the necessary investment to enable them succeed. “For us at Guinness Nigeria, making an impact is something that lasts a lifetime and not the few years that it takes for students to graduate from our programme. This is a way of extending that relationship. Some of the resources we will offer include trainings in the areas of business, finance and start-ups amongst others.”
Over 90 percent of graduates of the Guinness Scholarship programme attended the inauguration of the GEEP, with Nwagwu optimistic that the number will continue growing every year. Vera Asomugah, a graduate of computer science whose academic performance improved tremendously upon becoming a Guinness Nigeria scholar said, “I am highly honoured to be here as an ex-scholar. I received this scholarship in 2008 and I saw it as privilege for my community, my family and myself. Being a Guinness scholar has propelled me to move from success to success.”
While recounting her academic landmarks, all attributable to the Guinness scholarship, Asomugah expressed hope that “someday, I will be in a position to impact on other lives as mine has been impacted by Guinness to kind of give back to the society also.”
Johnson Iruka Innocent, who has graduated from being a Guinness Nigeria scholar to being a Guinness employee, while lauding the initiative, had very kind words for the executives of the company who made time out to the event. “I know what it takes to create time to attend to matters that are not primary to their duties. I pledge, on behalf of other ex-scholars that we will not let them down.”
BiQ
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