The Chief Executive Officer, Coscharis Group Ltd, Mr Cosmas Maduka, on Tuesday called on industrialists to collaborate with the government to create jobs that would impact the lives of Nigerians.
Maduka told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that industrialists could impact Nigerians through Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) which was about being responsive to the people’s needs.
“We must begin to diversify and see how we can impact individuals and the society at large.
“Our belief has always been to contribute our quota to the development of the society.
“What many people do not know, for example, is that five years ago, Coscharis ventured into Agriculture because of the imminent need for food security and currently, we have cultivated over 3,000 hectares of rice of about 11 square kilometres in Anambra State.
“The Vice-President, Mr yemi Osinbajo, the Minister of Agriculture as well as the Central Bank Governor have all been there and can attest to this.
“We have continued to make enormous investment in the Agriculture sector because going by the demography, according to the World Bank, by 2050, Nigeria will be the third world largest population with about 450 million people,’’ he said.
NAN reports that the Coscharis Group has over 26 branches nationwide, with presence in three African countries: Gabon, Ghana and Ivory Coast.
The group comprises of nine subsidiaries or associated companies. Since 1993, it has diversified into various areas of business such as Coscharis Technologies, Coscharis Medicals, Coscharis Motors, Coscharis Properties and Coscharis Farms among others.
According to Maduka, in all these, his main concern is feeding the multitude in the fast approaching future.
He said that, currently, his organisation spent about 300 billion dollars on rice importation though it was not without some hiccups.
Maduka said that the population of Nigeria was growing fast, adding that it required projections into the future on how to take care of their feeding and sustenance.
“My projection is that we must make a move and quickly too, and to increase our investment in farming.
“I say so because an average Nigerian family still delivers at least three kids and our population continues to explode.
“You need to eat before you think about wearing clothes. Even a mad man does not go hungry; no matter the level of his madness, he still eats food, whether from the garbage bin or elsewhere.
“So, we saw a gap in that area as a company and took it upon ourselves to do the needful in our own little way to impact the society,’’ Maduka said.
He noted that there were other philanthropists in other sectors who could help in sustaining lives as his company could not be everywhere.
Maduka said that his company had impacted the education sector through its public motivational speech in tertiary institutions across the country.
According to him, the motive behind such motivational talks is to inspire young people to greatness through hard work.
“Coupled with this, we have also built and donated a lecture theatre to the Law Faculty of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), Enugu Campus.
“We have also impacted the Nnamdi Azikiwe University in Awka, by building and handing-over a two-storey block of three bedroom flats for lecturers with boys’ quarters.
“So, we have done a few things as our own CSR to support Nigerian universities, but we do not get involved in their operations,’’ Maduka revealed.
He added that for now, Coscharis Group had no plans to build a private university. (NAN)