Distressed communities: Elumelu donates N2.5bn August 01, 2014 / in News 11:48 pm / Comments Founder of the Tony Elumelu Foundation and Chairman of Heirs Holdings, Tony O. Elumelu, has donated the sum of N2.5 billion towards revitalizing distressed Nigerian communities. The announcement was made at the Presidential fund-raising dinner for the Victims Support Fund (VSF), an initiative championed by President Goodluck Jonathan, who commissioned the fund and served as chief fund raiser. The VSF was set up as an independent corporate entity under a governing board chaired by General T.Y. Danjuma (rtd) and Mr. Fola Adeola. The Fund’s primary purpose is to provide assistance to Nigerian communities affected by terrorist activities. Commending the president for the initiative to bring the public and private sectors together to address the problem of insurgency, Elumelu stated: “It is important that we all do what we can to provide immediate succour and relief to the victims of this senseless terror that has been unleashed on our country. But these tragedies can – and should – provide an opportunity to change the narrative for the good of the victims and our entire Nigerian family.” Of the N2.5 billion that was committed by Tony Elumelu, N1billion has been contributed immediately to the Victims Support Fund. The additional 1.5 billion will go towards establishing and endowing a Nigeria Opportunity and Empowerment Fund over the next four years. The Tony Elumelu Foundation will manage the endowment fund to global and professional standards. These funds will be used to make investments and grants that create opportunities and empower the people in communities around Nigeria that have been ravaged by conflict or where fundamental issues of inclusion have to be addressed such as in the Niger Delta Region. “We want to show that a dynamic and long-term use of capital can create an enabling environment – supporting a generation of entrepreneurs, who themselves can lift a region and a people onward and upward,” stated Elumelu. - See more at: vanguardngr/2014/08/distressed-communities-elumelu-donates-n2-5bn/#sthash.eWYJzZKP.dpuf
Posted on: Sat, 02 Aug 2014 09:30:22 +0000