Yemisi Izuora
Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc, has provided succour for children living without limbs through its Together4ALimb initiative.
The scheme, now in its fifth year, is the company’s flagship CSI initiative, through which it provides prosthetic limbs to children from underserved communities suffering from limb loss.
On Saturday, November 8, Stanbic IBTC organized the fifth Annual Together4ALimb Walk to draw attention to the plight and challenges faced by children living without limbs. The staff of the organization were joined by members of their family and other well-wishers.
This 2019 edition of the Walk was flagged off by Yinka Sanni, Chief Executive, Stanbic IBTC Holdings PLC. Delivering his opening remarks, he identified the Together4ALimb initiative as a key event organized by the company. He said: “At Stanbic IBTC, we focus on three areas to help our communities. We focus on health, education and economic empowerment. Together4ALimb is one of the most important projects which we organize annually.”
This year, the organization raised the number of beneficiaries to 10, the highest since the inception of the programme five years ago. The recipients of this year’s prosthetic limbs are five-year-old Zainab Qudus (Oyo State), six-year-old Iyanuoluwa Adekoya (Ogun State) as well as the trio of Aisha Abdulrahman (Kaduna State), Fatima Bishir (Katsina State) and Naomi Ezeamaiwe (Delta State) who are all 10 years old. Others are Umaima Kabiru and Shamsiyya Adamu who are both 11 years from Kano State. Abdulfatai Abdulazeez (Kwara State), Salamatu Husseini (Bauchi State) and Halimatu Sadiya Musa (Borno State) are all 13 years who also got prosthetic limbs under the Together4ALimb initiative.
Each beneficiary was also awarded an Educational Trust worth N1.5 million to enable them further their education with ease.
Dr. Demola Sogunle, Chief Executive, Stanbic IBTC Bank PLC, said the number of beneficiaries was increased this year in commemoration of the 30th anniversary of Stanbic IBTC. He said: “In the past, we had fitted 20 beneficiaries with prosthetic limbs. Since we are celebrating our 30th anniversary this year, we felt that this number should align with the number of beneficiaries. In 2019, we wanted to be sure that we end up with 30 beneficiaries and we have been able to achieve that.”
In his remarks, the Special Guest, Dr. Adeyemi Omobowale, Chief Executive Officer of Reddington Hospital Group, noted that the loss of a limb produces a permanent disability that impacts a person’s self-image, care and mobility which ultimately affects their quality of life. He however commended the Together4ALimb initiative which he said would give the beneficiaries hope which they can leverage to achieve their God-given potentials.
He said: “As we all know, the goal of rehabilitation is to help the individual return to the highest level of function and independence while improving their physical, emotional and social wellbeing. I therefore commend the Stanbic IBTC team for this initiative to promote the rehabilitation of those who have lost their limbs, by providing them with one of the most effective methods which is the prosthetics; which brings them much closer to living a normal life.
Till date, the Together4ALimb scheme has provided prosthetics for 30 beneficiaries. All recipients under the scheme will have their prosthetic limbs replaced annually until they are 18.
Amongst the success stories of the scheme is Happiness Matthew who has successfully written her Senior Secondary Certificate Examination Polytechnic Jamb examination. She is awaiting admission into Nasarawa State Polytechnic to study Mass Communication.