IL Bagno’s CSR initiative elevates bathroom facilities in schools

After nine unbroken years of operations in fixtures and fittings in both residential and commercial segments of the housing sector, IL Bagno has evolved into a socially responsible corporate citizen with the intention of taking up two to three schools yearly for renovation.”

These were the exact words of Michael Owolabi, CEO, IL Bagno Nigeria Limited, home for world’s finest bathrooms, lightings and accessories, when he addressed a select group of journalists in his office early this year on his company’s short- and medium-term projections.

Consistent with those projections, the company recently took its corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative to two public schools – Archbishop Taylor Memorial Primary School and Onike Baptist Girls Primary School in Victoria Island and Yaba, respectively, where they renovated the schools’ bathrooms and equipped them with state-of-the-art facilities.

At the unveiling of renovated bathrooms in Archbishop Tailor Memorial Primary School located off Adetokunbo Ademola Street, Victoria Island, which was performed by Lanre Taiwo, the representative of the executive secretary, Local Education Authority, Eti-osa Local Government Area, Smart Akusebo, IL Bagno’s finance controller, explained that their action was not an advertisement for their products.

“Our company has no competitor; the products we are bringing here are of high quality with about 25 years life-span. We are here as part of our initiative to give back to the society, and we appeal to the school management to make proper use of the facility,” he said.

Explaining the choice of the school, Akusebo, who represented their CEO at the event, said “when we went out for inspection, this school was identified as one of those that didn’t have toilet and bathroom facilities. We analysed all the schools and this schools was number one on our priority list of those that required urgent attention; the state of the bathroom here was just like not having any one at all.”

He said it would had taken them just two to three weeks to put the facilities in place, disclosing that it took about five weeks to do the projects because the school was in session and the pupils were writing exams.

At Onike Baptist Girls, Chioma Otibu, who represented their CEO, re-emphasised the motive for their action, adding that IL Bagno was one-stop-shop for high quality bathroom products, appealing for proper and careful use of the products which, she said, had about 30 years warranty.

In his response, James Bamidele, the head of section, Planning and Statistics, Mainland Education Authority, who represented the education secretary, described the project as wonderful, adding that government appreciated the company’s kind gesture.

In the same vein, Lanre Taiwo at Archbishop Taylor had thanked the company for their kind gesture, noting that by improving on the school bathroom and toilet, IL Bagno had also improved on the health condition of the school by reducing incidence of diseases associated with unsanitary environment.

Akusebo, however, lamented the challenges they faced from some school management who, he explained, turned down their expression of interest in renovating their bathrooms, saying some school authorities even demanded gratification as precondition for allowing them to carry out the renovation of their own schools.

By: Chuka Uroko