MTN spends N300 million to fight HIV/AIDS

November 17, 2006 :: Daily Champion,Lagos

Ahead of the 2006 MTN Lagos International Half Marathon, which has been dedicated to the fight against the scourge of HIV/AIDS under the theme Move ahead...Run against AIDS, Nigeria's foremost mobile telephony services provider and sponsor of the internationally acclaimed competition, MTN, Monday announced that its total expenditure in the fight against the HIV/AIDS pandemic will hit the N300 Million mark by the end of the year..

The announcement was made by Bola Akingbade, the chief Marketing and Customer Relations Officer of MTN at the Marathon stakeholders' conference at which the telecommunications Giant and its partners restated their commitment to the fight against the pandemic and the noble objective of using Africa's biggest marathon competition to draw global attention to it.

"The theme for this year's MTN Marathon is a theme that demonstrates MTN's interest in placing the fight against HIV/AIDS on the front burner in Nigeria . A marathon can be fun. It is also quite a physically challenging exercise. We at MTN have chosen to use the opportunity of this year's marathon to highlight how physically debilitating the HIV and AIDS challenge is in our world today. Our desire is to create awareness for this global issue and to assist in eradicating the stigma associated with it," he said.

Speaking further, he alluded to the laudable activities of the MTN Foundation, the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) arm of MTN, not only in terms of raising awareness about the disease, but also in terms of capacity building of medical professionals and the provision of various facilities like Voluntary Counselling and Testing Centres (VCT) in rural or poor urban areas and portraying the pivotal place of progressive action in the scheme of things.

"In order to realize the theme for this year's marathon, we have forged strategic partnerships with the Nigerian Business Coalition Against AIDS (NIBUCAA); the private sector umbrella organization responsible for coordinating support for the campaign against HIV/ AIDS, and the National Action Committee Against AIDS (NACA), the highest umbrella body in the campaign. By the end of this year MTN will have spent over N300 million in the fight against HIV/AIDS," he said, adding that the marathon, designed to move Nigerians ahead, is more than a sporting event.

Aderemi Akinwale, General Manager, MTN Marathon, who spoke on The Logistics Challenge of Organizing a World-Class Marathon, said that MTN Marathon, which numbers among the biggest half marathon in the world, is one project that thrives on collaboration and harmonization of resources, human and non-human.

Corroborating Akingbade's position, he said that the tremendous progress MTN Marathon has recorded within the relatively short period of its existence would not have been possible without the support of the various stakeholders. He also commented on the rising level of participation in the marathon from the initial number of 15,000 in 2001 to about 49, 000 in 2005, saying that the turn-out this year is expected to be the highest.

The conference was well attended by stake holders from various institutions among who were the Lagos State Commissioner for Health duly represented by the Director, Disease Control, Lagos State Ministry of Health, Dr (Mrs.) Olufemi Taiwo; high powered white cap chiefs representing Oba Rilwan Akiolu, the Oba of Lagos; members of the press and top officials of the Athletic Federation of Nigeria (AFN), the National Business Coalition Against AIDS (NIBUCAA), Journalists against AIDS (JAAIDS), among others.

Taiwo brought good will messages from the Ministry of Health and the entire Lagos State Government; Chief Babatude Tajudeen, one of the white cap chiefs to the occasion on behalf of the Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwan Akiolu, pledged the support of the Lagos traditional council towards the hosting of another successful marathon this year and Sunday Bada of AFN spoke on the breeding of friendliness, team spirit and good neighbourliness via the Marathon. Other speakers were Kingsley Obumegbulam of JAAIDS, Victor Olu Ogunipebi of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) as well as Rekiya Sanni of NIBUCAA.

Responding to the speeches and the impressive turn out at the event, Kola Oyeyemi, Senior Manager, Master Brand, MTN lauded the efforts of the stakeholders in placing Lagos State and Nigeria in general on the global marathon map, assuring them that MTN will continue to live up to its billing as a major sponsor of life-touching initiatives in the society, the latest of which is the fight against AIDS through the MTN marathon.