TheCable

Dolapo Osinbajo, wife of the vice president, and former chief justice of Nigeria (CJN), Alfa Belgore (GCON) lead the high-profile names who have confirmed they would attend the premiere of Airtel Touching Lives season two.

The premiere, which is billed to hold on Thursday, January 14, 2016, at the Congress Hall, Transcorp Hilton, Abuja, is also expected to have senate president, Bukola Saraki, and Yakubu Dogara, speaker of the federal house of representatives, in attendance.

According to Airtel, Babatunde Fashola, minister of works, power and housing; Lai Mohammed, minister of information and culture; Adebayo Shittu, minister of communications; and Kemi Adeosun, the minister of finance, will also grace the premiere.

Captains of industry, heads of agencies, non-governmental organisations, philanthropists and notable media proprietors are also expected to attend.

Airtel Touching Lives is an inspiring corporate social responsibility initiative that seeks to offer practical relief, succour, hope, opportunities and credible platforms to liberate and empower the underprivileged, disadvantaged and hard-to-reach persons in the society.

The activities of Airtel Touching Lives are recorded and produced for national television with a view to promoting the spirit of giving, self-sacrifice and love among Nigerians.

After the first season, Airtel Nigeria announced the second season of the touching lives CSR programme, subsequently receiving thousands of entries/nominations in form of email, SMS and letters.

Speaking at the launch of the season, Segun Ogunsanya, managing director and chief executive officer, Airtel Nigeria, said the telco rolled out the second edition of the revolutionary programme based on the monumental success recorded with the first.

According to him, Airtel went the length and breadth of the country, in the first season, scouting for people who needed help and cause for support, noting that the journey yielded great results as the telco touched lives of many Nigerians.

“At Airtel, we believe that for us to be a great company, we must be good company and we are very much committed to earning our social license – the love and acceptance of the people we serve,” he said.

Also speaking on the initiative, Emeka Oparah, the company’s director of corporate commission and CSR, noted that robust return of the season highlights Airtel’s readiness to continually support efforts of government, non-governmental organisations and individuals who are large-hearted.

It features 24 emotion-evoking stories of how the plight and despair of people are turned to optimism by the leading telecoms company.