By Foday Moriba Conteh
Orange Foundation -Sierra Leone has on Friday 23rd July, 2021 donated a 500 KVA generator to Njala University during an auspicious event held at the Njala University Mokonde campus.
The gesture or offer was part of strides towards improving electricity supply and in fulfilment of the telecommunications company’s Corporate Social Responsibility in the country.
In his welcome address, Pro- VC & Deputy Vice Chancellor of Njala University, David Carew ,started by congratulating Orange Foundation-Sierra Leone for making such a timely donation to Njala University and stated that even though Njala University is deprived in terms of accessing basic amenities to promote teaching, research and extension compared to other Public Universities it is still a household name in the production of the requisite human resource in the Government’s Human Capital Agenda.
He appealed to the Chief Minister and other sector Ministries present to help the Administration create a conducive environment for students and members of staff of the University to enhance their potentials.
The Deputy Vice Chancellor expressed his dissatisfaction that students are spending their valuable time searching for the basic amenities rather than concentrating on their studies and that this trend should change with the requisite political will been shown by Government to invest in education and human capital development.
Speaking during the event, Acting Vice-Chancellor of Njala University Professor, Andrew Baimba, expressed appreciation to Orange Foundation -Sierra Leone for the laudable venture in supporting the University with the 500KVA Generator which he described as a move in the right direction towards addressing electricity issues within the campus.
He stated that Njala University was established in 1964 as the constituent unit of the University of Sierra Leone and later became a University in 2005 pursuant to the 2005 University’s Act, adding that the University has never benefitted from the national grid and this, according to him, has continued to cripple the finances of the University over the years as it spends quantum of monies to generate water and electricity across its campuses and lauded the Orange Foundation Sierra Leone and the Office of the Chief Minister for swiftly coming to the aid of Njala University on the beckon call to provide a 500 KVA generator to Njala Campus.
He further thanked Orange Sierra Leone, which, according to him, has been at the service of Njala University in the past years providing furniture for schools, ICT equipment for the Njala University hospital among others, and urged the representatives of Orange Sierra Leone present at the ceremony to convey the sincere gratitude of his Administration to the Chief Executive Officer, Orange Sierra Leone, Madam Aminata Kane Ndiaye.
Professor Baimba also impressed on the Chief Minister that they would not be comfortable as a University if the host communities of Mosongo and Mokonde are left out in terms of the provision of water and electricity and appealed that the communities should be able to feel the relevance of the University within their communities.
He appealed for an overhaul of the electricity distribution and supply infrastructure at the Njala campus and recounted that the provision of transformers and more generators would enhance the electricity capacity of the campus.
On her part, Director of Orange Foundation Sierra Leone, Ms. Jestina Betts, noted in her statement that Education in the 21st century has been characterized by the use of technology fully supported by electricity and that it is against such a backdrop that they had considered making a donation of 500KVA to Njala University.
She further disclosed that the donation by Orange Sierra Leone was adding to the tall list of donations already made by Orange Sierra Leone to Njala University since 2015.
Ms. Betts also disclosed that Orange Sierra Leone has an enviable track record in CSR and was the first company to donate the sum of 1.5 million dollars in material assistance to the Free Quality Education and as part of their Early Childhood Development Center School Project, which happens to fall under the Company’s Free Quality Education support to the Government’s Free Quality Education (FQE) Initiative they have constructed and commissioned state of art Pre-School Center at Pujehun, Kambia, Moyamba District respectively.
Dr. Eldred Taylor, Deputy Minister of Energy on behalf of Minister Kanja Sesay also applauded Orange Sierra Leone for the gesture which he described as a move in complementing Government’s efforts towards proving electricity supply to Njala University, adding that energy supply to Njala University are very close to the heart of His Excellency Retired Brigadier Julius Maada Bio.
He assured the University authorities that the Ministry had worked with private sector players in the past and the African Union and NEPAD to roll out a one-megawatt electricity power at Njala University providing 24/7 water and electricity to the Njala University Hospital.
The Deputy Energy Minister also assured the University that they are working on a hybrid energy power solution and that the AU/NEPAD phase two projects are all sustainable efforts the Ministry is working on to bring sustainable electricity to Njala University.
Deputy Minister of Technical and Higher Education commended Orange Foundation Sierra Leone for coming to the aid of Njala University and expressed the commitment of his Minister and President Bio to promote higher Education and disclosed that the passing of the Universities Bill of 2021 which had created two other Technical Universities in the Western Area and the Eastern Province is a clear manifestation of Government’s commitment to promote Human Capital Development.
In his keynote address, the Chief Minister, Jacob Jus Saffa thanked Orange Sierra Leone and gave a background to the donation of the generator to Njala University.
He showcased the developmental efforts of the Government of President Bio in addressing the issues around staff salary, backlogs and increments and also the huge expenditures towards the Free Quality Education flagship project.
Jacob Jusu Saffa told the gathering that the Government of President has taken over the ambitious Human Capital Development to address the issues of underlining poverty which according to him has a direct correlation with illiteracy.
The Chief Minister also hinted that Government would soon require public institutions to commit monies raised into the Treasury Single Account (TSA) and that time after time Government would have the opportunity to examine cash flows and outflows within public Universities.
He encouraged Njala University to not only expand and produce experts in the Agricultural value chain but also make way for agriculture graduates to be self-reliant through projects.
The climax of the ceremony was the official commissioning of the 500KVA Generator by the Chief Minister and Orange Foundation Sierra Leone followed by a tour of the Njala Campus.
