Moses Akaigwe
For their commendable gesture of supporting the concerted efforts towards combating the deadly coronavirus, prominent automotive companies, including the Stallion Group, CFAO, the Mandilas Group, and Weststar, have earned the appreciation of the Federal Government.
Making the commendation in an interview recently, the Director-General of the National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC), Jelani Aliyu, remarked that the support the auto industry is giving to the Federal Government is indicative of their commitment to safeguarding the citizenry.
“Automotive stakeholders such as Innoson, Simba and others, have also risen to the occasion of producing relevant health-related vehicles such as ambulances,”Aliyu stated.
Leading the sector’s list of supporters of the anti-COVID-19 cause is the Stallion Group. Its philanthropic arm, Stallion Empowerment Initiative, has been supplying locally produced rice and fish to all the government-run hospitals dedicated to Covid-19 in the country. The gesture is expected to last for three months.
CEO of Stallion Group, Anant Badjatya, further committed a staff bus each for the five government-run COVID-19 hospitals in Lagos, in addition to providing drivers and fuel for the vehicles. This will facilitate safer and comfortable movement of the health care workers who are in the frontline in this fight against the virus.
Chairman, Stallion Group, Sunil Vaswani, stated, “These are exceptionally difficult times and urgent emergency resources have to be deployed to cope with the needs of affected states and support their health care systems.
“At Stallion Group, our top priority is the health and safety of our employees, customers and our community. There is nothing greater than the safety of the people of this country and it is our responsibility to support the government and the community in this time of need. We are deeply grateful to every health care worker and person who has risked their life to fight this pandemic and will continue to support them.”
In a similar deed, Massilia Motors (sole distributor of Mitsubishi Motors in Nigeria), last month presented food items to 1000 homes in Ijora, a suburb of Lagos state, where the company’s headquarters is located.
Food items, including bags of rice, beans, sugar, salt, as well as vegetable oil, pasta, and tomato pastes, were handed over to Oba Abdul Fatai Aremu Aromire, the Ojora of Ijora, by a Massilia Motors team led by the Deputy Managing Director of the company, Kunle Jaiyesimi.
On its part, Mandilas Group Ltd, the sole franchise dealer of Carrier Air-Conditioners in Nigeria, donated air-conditioners in support of GTBank’s effort to create a 110-bed isolation centre at the Mobolaji Johnson Arena, Onikan, Lagos.
To make certain that the 32 Carrier Ceiling Concealed Ducted Air-conditioning units were professionally installed, the group’s team of technicians was deployed to the project where they ensured the products were functioning efficiently ahead of the commissioning of the centre by Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
Commenting on the project, the Group Chief Executive Officer, Mandilas Group Ltd, Ola Debayo-Doherty, commended the Lagos State Government’s efforts at checking the spread of the coronavirus.
The air-conditioning units are humidity and temperature-controlled with high filtration levels for clean indoor air quality, preventing the presence of stale air in the room.
Coscharis Group donated relief materials to the Lagos state government. President of the group, Cosmas Maduka, said “We have been following with great details the global developments as it relates to the COVID–19 health situation which is really unprecedented and has brought the whole world to a standstill. As it is, as a responsible corporate entity, we are heeding to government and the health institutions’ advice to ensure the safety of our assets whom are our staff and all our entire stakeholders.”