Access to good education and health remains a major challenge for a lot of Nigerians in ways that threaten the future of the country. Although the onus of transformation lies heavily on the public sector, a lot of privates have also found ways to contribute their quota by making community development programmes that align with health and education advancement, social investment imperatives.
With a major focus on these two sectors central to wellbeing and human development, Nigeria’s leading payment service providers and owners of Remita, SystemSpecs has shown strong commitment towards impacting lives of citizens through its corporate social responsibility initiatives. The industry leader has taken excellence beyond ICT and Fintech; it envisions a society where everyone can be active in moving the country forward.
“At SystemSpecs, we believe that charity begins at home. Therefore, our effect on our neighbourhood and social surroundings will always be of utmost importance” the firm affirms. SystemSpecs also hopes that by making communities a better and more fulfilling place to live, it can help more people aspire to be active players in national development.
Living up to this mandate, in July 2018, SystemSpecs commissioned a Social Welfare Centre in Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano State. A special project aimed at improving psychosocial support for patients in hospitals and reducing their distress while receiving treatment or recovering. The initiative has been lauded as very commendable considering the dearth of Social Welfare Centres across many Nigerian hospitals. SystemSpecs, though this project, did not only give hope to a lot of people, who are now privileged to use the facility, it also made a case for the importance of healthcare beyond clinical procedures.
Building on its community development stride in Kano, the company also completely transformed two dilapidated classroom blocks at Dandago Special Primary School in Gwale, Kano, a school dedicated to raising children with special needs. By making the classrooms more conducive for the children, SystemSpecs believes that despite perceived limitations, the pupils will also be able to benefit from the gains of quality education.
The Dandago project is one of the latest embarked on by the company, but earlier in August 2017, SystemSpecs built and donated an ultramodern library to the school at St Theresa’s Church Madalla, after a tragic bomb blast by Boko Haram insurgents on the Christmas of 2016, shook the site. Explaining why the organisation showed interest in rebuilding their library, a SystemSpecs’ executive said that by advancing acquisition of knowledge and the creation of conducive learning environment, the company is helping to secure a bright and rewarding future for the country at large.
For the past couple of years, SystemSpecs has also partnered with the Lagos State government on a number of initiatives. This year’s edition of Ready Set Work Lagos, an employability and entrepreneurship training organised by Lagos State for final year students in universities kicked off three weeks ago, with major developers and executives within SystemSpecs serving as mentors and equipping aspiring graduates with twenty-first century workplace skill-sets. After the thirteen-week long coaching, SystemSpecs, as done in previous years, will provide a good number of the students with internship and apprenticeship opportunities.
SystemSpecs is part of an initiative called Code Lagos, empowering young Lagosians to significantly contribute to the advancement of the state by leveraging on technology. The young people are taught to write codes and bring their problem-solving ideas to life. This programme has already impacted over 5000 youths across the state and has made of them job creators and value-adding employees.
Through a similar initiative called Educate Lagos, SystemSpecs is also working with Lagos government, to plug knowledge gap in the state, by supplying educational and instructional materials for students, teachers and researchers. The Executive Director of SystemSpecs, Deremi Atanda, describes this as a deliberate attempt to ensure Nigerians can strengthen their capacity and usher in a knowledge-driven economy.
To promote cooperation, healthy living and work-life balance among organisations, SystemSpecs sponsors the Remita Corporate Champions Cup, also known as RC3. The annual corporate football tournament, regarded as the most prestigious corporate soccer championships in Nigeria, features leading corporate brands from the Banking, Fast Moving Consumer Goods, Insurance, Telecoms and Technology industries. This year’s edition is expected to hold on August 12, at YabaTech.
Last year, the firm was recognised by Rotary International District 9110 for partnering to end polio in Nigeria and Africa and helping people at the base of the pyramid. SystemSpecs has received other awards for its contribution to the society through CSR as well as through its Remita payment solution which provides payment solutions to corporates and individuals.
Joke Badmus is a Lagos based sustainability enthusiast
