Airtel Nigeria said it would continue to promote corporate philanthropy in line with its vision of empowering and assisting underprivileged Nigerians.

Speaking at a media viewing of Episode 12 of Airtel Touching Lives Season 4 in Lagos at the weekend, its Director of Corporate Communications & CSR, Emeka Oparah, said it was part of the telco’s strategy to continue to give back to the communities where it operates and also encourage other corporate organisations and individuals to adopt the spirit giving.

According to Oparah, the Airtel Touching Lives, initiated four years ago, has positively impacted the lives of hundreds of thousands of Nigerians in areas, such as healthcare delivery, economic empowerment, water, environment and primary education.

“You and I know that the government cannot provide all the basic needs, so as a socially responsible organisation, we elected to try and do this and in the past four years. I’m proud to say we’ve done a bit of our own to help out.

“This initiative is spread across the country and it’s our way of giving back to the society. These stories are documented and shown to people. What we do is not to look good on TV but to inspire other people to contribute their own quota.

“There are so many people out there who are suffering and we try to mitigate this; but how many can we do? That is why we showcase this so that people can key into it and be spurred to lend helping hands to the needy,” Oparah said.

He also said the company will not rest on oars in terms of creating positive impact, noting that plans are in top gear to roll out a much more robust Touching Lives Season 5.

At the media viewing, the Episode 12 of Touching Lives Season 4 was shown and it featured the story of Joy Musa who lost her husband, four children and her brother in a 2013 insurgent attack on Dogo Nahawa in Jos, Plateau State, and how Airtel came to the rescue of the forlorn widow.