LAGOS -Mr. Deo Niyongabo, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Project Manager, Heineken International, Region Africa and Middle East, has lauded Nigerian Breweries Plc and the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), for launching the ‘Don’t Drink and Drive’ (DDD) campaign.
Niyongabo, who oversees Heineken’s CSR projects in the Africa and Middle East regions, made the commendation in Lagos over the weekend, during the flag off of the regional leg of the campaign, which took place at the Ojota motor park.
According to him, the initiative is highly commendable because it aligns with Heineken International’s desire to promote responsible drinking of its alcoholic beverages.
He observed that Nigerian Breweries also has in place, a ‘Cool at Work’ policy, which holds the employees accountable with respect to alcohol consumption.
He expressed the hope that the DDD campaign would yield the desired fruits, because the communication strategy has been effective.
Earlier in his presentation, Mr. Wole Olaniran, the Corps Public Education Officer, FRSC, noted that the uncontrolled sales of alcoholic products at the motor parks, had increased access of drivers to the product.“Experience on the roads show that many of our drivers and their conductors, as well as other motorists have the habit of consuming some of these non-branded locally brewed alcohol, as well as the branded ones before embarking on their journeys, with the resultant serious negative consequences,” he said. “Several road traffic accidents and crashes are known to have occurred as a result of drink driving.”
Noting that the abuse of alcoholic beverages, which come in various forms have adverse economic and social consequences, he advised members of the National Union of Road Safety Workers (NURTW) and other road users to desist from driving under the influence of alcohol.
He warned that the commission will prosecute anyone found to abuse alcohol, while driving, while charging the union to be alert to its responsibilities at all times.
Mr. Michiel Herkemij, managing director, Nigerian Breweries, had in his remarks during the launch of the programme on 18th September, 2008, described the campaign as one of the many pillars of the company’s CSR initiatives.“Nigerian Breweries is founded on a robust Corporate Social
Responsibility policy which aims at integrating itself with society,” he said. “At all times NB identifies with, and shares in the legal, socio cultural aspirations of our environment.“Corporate Social Responsibility in our context goes beyond the elementary understanding of giving back to society but, additionally, embraces concrete definitions of our individual, collective and corporate conducts in relationship to all stake holders.”
According to him, NB’s CSR policy is anchored on three strategic platforms namely Company Alcohol Policy, which outline measures to ensure that alcohol beverages are consumed responsibly, Code of Business Conduct, which defines ethical, legal, moral standards and expectation in its daily conducts and Community Involvement.
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