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Building Beyond Construction:
Julius Berger Reaffirms Commitment to Community Development on International Day of Charity
By Mike Odiakose, Abuja
As part of activities marking the International Day of Charity, Julius Berger Nigeria Plc has once again demonstrated its unwavering commitment to its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) through targeted community outreach initiatives across the country.
In its Region West operational area, the company, recently extended its support to two notable institutions, the Hearts of Gold Children Hospice, a palliative and respite facility for children with disabilities and the Shinning Light Beach School Foundation by donating essential food and relief items to assist in their efforts toward providing care and education for the most vulnerable groups in society.
Speaking on behalf of the company’s management and staff, James Agama expressed that Julius Berger’s approach to CSR goes far beyond philanthropy.
“Corporate Social Responsibility at Julius Berger is anchored on long-term impact. It reflects our enduring commitment to building stronger communities, improving quality of life, and supporting causes that promote inclusivity, education, healthcare, and social welfare across Nigeria”, he said.
He added that Julius Berger’s CSR framework is strategically structured around four pillars, Education, Healthcare, Environmental Sustainability, and Community Development with each designed to drive meaningful and measurable contributions to national development.
The management of the respective beneficiary institutions expressed heartfelt appreciation for the visit and donations, even as they commended Julius Berger’s continued compassion and partnership, describing the gesture as timely and impactful.
At Shinning Light Beach School Foundation, the founder, Lady Salami Dorcas emphasised the Home’s reliance on goodwill donations, highlighting the scarcity of recent contributions and commending Julius Berger for their generosity, particularly in providing much needed items.
“I am super excited by the donation made today by Julius Berger because the burden of catering for food supply in this orphanage has been taken care of for a long period. I am exceedingly grateful and on behalf of Shinning Light Beach School Foundation, we say a very big thank you to Julius Berger. May the Lord continue to bless your company, management and staff and help you to grow from strength to strength.”
At the Lagos event, Julius Berger team, led by James Agama, also included the Commercial Manager, Lagos Social Farm/Lagos Tank Farm, Mrs. Funke Obolo, Ero Sandra Onome of the Document Control Centre, Lagos Facility Works as well as Mobolaji Ogunyemi and Mercy Ogheneraye of the Media Relations Office.
In a related development, the company also donated food items and cash tokens to two orphanage homes in the Federal Capital Territory:
Destined Children Orphanage, Kado and Unique Choices Care Foundation, Kubwa, Abuja, aimed at extending love, care, and support on the occasion of the International Day of Charity.
At Destined Children Orphanage, which currently cares for 45 children between the ages of one month and nineteen years, the administrator, Ms. Sarah Chukwuemeka, expressed heartfelt gratitude to Julius Berger for the donation.
She remarked, “we are deeply grateful. What you have brought will go a long way. These are items we use daily, and we appreciate Julius Berger for reaching out to us and for everyone who represented the company today. God bless you.”
She also said that the orphanage was founded in 2017 by her parents and noted that the donations will help improve the well-being of the children. The children, in turn, expressed their appreciation through songs and prayers of thanks.
Similarly, at Unique Choices Care Foundation, the founder, Mrs. Choice C. Michael, who established the foundation in 2018 following the passing of her husband, commended Julius Berger’s continued compassion. With visible emotion, she said, “I was overwhelmed with joy when I saw this. I am so happy, and I thank Julius Berger a million times. The Bible says a giver never lacks, and I pray that God continues to bless your organisation who has given to support these children.”
The foundation currently cares for 24 children, aged between three months and sixteen years, and also supports over 650 widows through its NGO initiatives.
The excitement among the children and members of the community was palpable as they warmly received Julius Berger’s representatives. The atmosphere was filled with gratitude and joy, with both children and neighbours expressing appreciation to the company for its thoughtful gesture.
Speaking on behalf of Julius Berger Nigeria Plc, the Public Relations Officer, Region Central and North, Akeem Lawal, commended the dedication of the orphanage administrators and reaffirmed the company’s ongoing support.
He stated, “Every year, Julius Berger extends assistance to orphanages and charity organisations as part of its CSR policy. Our goal is to ensure that these children enjoy the festive season like every other child. In addition to today’s donation, the company will also credit each orphanage with a token sum.”
The International Charity Day serves as a platform for individuals, businesses, and organizations to demonstrate compassion and solidarity toward the less privileged. The global observance promotes awareness of the challenges faced by vulnerable populations and encourages collective efforts to give back to society.
As for Julius Berger, the company has continually used its CSR programmes as a bridge to connect with communities, going beyond its engineering and construction expertise to touch lives in meaningful ways.
The company’s philosophy of “building beyond infrastructure” has always included a human dimension, one rooted in compassion, shared progress, and social responsibility.
Through these initiatives, Julius Berger continues to demonstrate that corporate success is not just measured by projects completed, but by the lives positively impacted.
End
The Benue State House of Assembly has passed the 2026 Appropriation Bill, of N695, 011, 237, 687•28 into law.
The House increased the 2026 budget by N89•5 billion from N605.5 billion earlier presented by the Governor Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Iormem Alia.
The budget was approved on Wednesday following the presentation of a report by the House Committee on Appropriation, chaired by Hon. Isaac Ochikliye ably represented by deputy Chairman of the Committee Hon. Dauglas Akya during a plenary presided over by the Speaker, Rt. Hon. Berger Alfred Emberga, MNIQS.
He explained that the 2026 budget was designed to accelerate infrastructure development, improve social service delivery, and stimulate sustainable economic growth across the State.
Among other recommendations, the House urged House Committees to advise MDAs to avoid extra budgetary expenditures and called for the strengthening of audit and procurement processes to enhance transparency, accountability and effective budget implementation.
The Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon. Alfred Emberga commended members of the appropriation committee for the good and thorough work on the budget.
The Honourable Speaker directed the Clerk of the House to produce a clean copy of the bill for the Governor’s assent.
Team Nigeria clinched a bronze medal in judo at the ongoing 4th African Youth Games after winning the 63kg category bout against Zimbabwe.
The result was confirmed in a statement on Wednesday by Kola Daniel, Special Adviser on Media in the Office of the Director-General of the National Sports Commission (NSC).
Nigeria’s representative, Oghogho, defeated his Zimbabwean opponent in the bronze medal contest to secure a place on the podium.
The medal adds to Team Nigeria’s tally at the Games and reflects the country’s participation in judo events.
The African Youth Games in Angola continue to offer Nigerian athletes the opportunity to compete at a continental level and gain international exposure.
By Eddy Ochigbo, Abuja
The Nigerian Content Development Management Board (NCDMB) has reaffirmed its determination to increase the current from 56 per cent to100 per cent local content in Africa between now and next decade, to align with President Bola Tinubu’s “Nigeria First” policy, aimed at boosting local production and reducing dependence on imports in critical sectors of national economy.
Director Corporate Services NCDMB, Dr.
Abdulmalik Halilu, who drop the hint during the week at a capacity building workshop for media stakeholders in Abuja, disclosed that NCDMB, was in good stead to attain 100 per cent Local content in less than no time due to impactful steps being taken by the board. Innovative steps being of the board, be said, has been put in place under the leadership of Engr. Felix Omatsola Ogbe. While hinging the milestones attained by the board on the establishment of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Development Content Act (NOGICD) – a sole agency of the federal government responsible for driving Nigerian content in the oil and gas industry – Halilu urged Oil and Gas Correspondents to place high premium on the core operations of NCDMB, rather than their day to day reportage of policy matters.The media capacity building workshop themed: “The Role of Media and Communications in Sustaining Nigerian Content Development”, challenged the media to deploy its expertise and professionalism to boost Nigeria’s sustained campaign in championing local content development in Africa.
“The media should do more in the reportage of activities of the board by moving from reporting policy matters, and throw more light on core operations of the Nigerian content performance in the oil and gas industry”, he volunteered.
Meanwhile, NCDMB”s move is to ensure that for every N100 spent in the industry by operators and service companies, N56 is now retained in-country in terms of value addition local assets, goods, expertise to target 70 per cent local content by 2027. The workshop stressed the need for the media to interrogate the board’s activities and keep Nigerians abreast of the ongoing silent revolution in the nation’s local content trajectory.
On his part, Dr Obinna Ezeobi, General Manager, Corporate Services, reiterated that the Nigerian content has become so widespread the world over that a good number of African countries are now seeking ways to optimise value from their oil and gas resources, turning to Nigeria’s local implementation as a case study.
Earlier, Azubuike Ishiekwene, Editor-in-Chief of Leadership Newspapers, who delivered a paper on why “Good Journalism is not Enough: Creating Sustainable Income from your Content in Digital Age”, maintained that good journalism is no longer in vogue because of the collapse of traditional newsroom revenue and the under payment and casualisation of Journalists, especially beat reporters. He reasoned that the Journalist as a knowledge worker, a trusted interpreter, public educator and a martlet signaler must live above board because the digital age did kill journalism, it killed dependency.
By and large, the media capacity building workshop, among things touched on: Formulation and implementation of policies and monitoring its socioeconomic impact; Provision of the economic and social capital, necessary for the growth of industries; and Provision of enabling business environment to support production and consumption of goods and services by local supply chain.
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