Oando’s shareholders grumble, foundation plans N43.8m for girl education

Shareholders of Oando Plc in the South-West have urged the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to sack the company’s Managing Director, Mr. Wale Tinubu.

The shareholders made the call yesterday at the SEC office and the Nigeria Union of Journalists’ (NUJ) secretariat in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.

The National President of the Renaissance Shareholders Association (RSA), Olufemi Timothy and the National Co-ordinator, Proactive Shareholders Association of Nigeria (PSAN), Taiwo Oderinde, who condemned the company’s last Annual General Meeting (AGM), said it was stage-managed to “allow for unfettered and continuous pilfering of the company’s hard-earn money by the current management.”

The shareholders, therefore, called on President Muhammadu Buhari to order a full-scale investigation into how “a once vibrant company suddenly went under with negative working capital.”

According to them, Tinubu’s sack was necessary to allow for unfettered probe into the company’s transactions.

They stated that it is heart-breaking when the External Auditor, Ernst & Young’s report of the 2016 AGM, stated that the company was currently in dire strait.

However, the Branch Manager of the Exchange, Kayode Ogun, urged the shareholders to write a formal letter to it, promising that their complaints would be looked into.

Meanwhile, the Oando Foundation (OF), an independent charity with a mission to create conducive learning environment in dilapidated public primary schools in Nigeria, has partnered with Fashion Vie New York to raise funds towards the education of the Nigerian ‘girl-child’.

The Foundation was selected as the first beneficiary from Africa to receive proceeds from The Dream: Fall 2017 Benefit Fashion Show and Silent Auction where it successfully raised N43,800,000 for the girl-child education. Through its adopt-a-school-initiative, Oando Foundation has steadily provided access to improved quality education in Nigeria, with a focus on girls in the northern region.

The Foundation’s holistic programmes have increased the number of young girls enrolling in its adopted schools through the provision of hygiene and sanitary facilities in schools, scholarships to deserving females to transit to secondary schools, mentorship programmes, training of female teachers, and partnerships with International Development Organisations. With over 6.3 million out-of-school girls in Nigeria, Oando Foundation’s commitment is reinforced in the words of Angelique Kidjo, “Everyone wins when children — and especially girls – have access to education. An educated girl is likely to increase her personal earning potential and prepare herself for a productive and fulfilling life, as well as reduce poverty in the whole community.”

Speaking at the event, Head, Oando Foundation, Adekanla Adegoke, said: “The partnership with Fashion Vie comes at a critical time when Oando Foundation is scaling up its girl-child intervention under the adopt-a-school initiative.

The funds raised will directly support the educational and social needs of girls in our adopted schools, providing them opportunities for a better future.”