British American Tobacco Nigeria Foundation has presented a draft of N3.91bn to Oluyole Local Government Area of Oyo State for the dredging of four rivers in the council.
The Executive Director, BATN Foundation, Mr. Gbenga Ibikunle, in his speech on Thursday in Ibadan, said the gesture was to address the problem of flooding in the council.
Scores of residents in the council lost their lives with property worth millions of naira destroyed during the 2011 rainstorm in the state.
Ibikunle, who stated that the donation was in line with the foundation’s community development initiative, said, “We are presenting a bank draft for N3.91bn for the dredging of Odo Ona, Odo Ona Kekere, Agara and Aba Ibeji rivers to prevent re-occurrence of flooding.
“The council area was flooded during the 2011 and 2012 rainy season. It is our belief that government and its agencies alone cannot single-handedly solve the plethora of socio economic problems that the country is facing.
“It is imperative that if Nigeria is to solve the myriads of economic problems, the new global thinking which emphasises strategic partnering between governments and private development organisations must be adopted.
“We are also collaborating with this council on youth empowerment. We are laying example for others to follow.”
In his response, the council Chairman, Mr. Ayodeji Aleshinloye, said the gesture would help prevent flooding and loss of lives and property.
He said, “Dredging of these rivers will help our people. During the flooding in 2011, our people were hanging on house tops and tree tops and we used divers to rescue many of them.
“Today, you have helped us with the dredging of four rivers out of 12. We were most hit because our council is the terminal of all the rivers in Ibadan.
“We appreciate your contribution but we also want you to give us special consideration in the area of employment.”