Nigerians raise N1.4m via Glo for Haiti victims

An estimated sum of N1,400,000 (N1.4m) may have been realised by Second National Operator (SNO) Globacom in the first phase of the campaign to support the Nigerian Red Cross in assisting the victims of Haiti earthquake, which took place over a month ago.

Head, Value Added Services (VAS) at Globacom, Mr. Samson Isa, made the disclosure at the weekend, saying that over 28,000 Nigerians have till date responded to the fundraising appeal by sending the word ‘Haiti’ to 33090; a special short code created for the purpose.

According to him, Nigerians from all walks of life responded positively to the fundraising appeal launched a fortnight ago by Globacom to help the unfortunate victims of the recent earthquake in Haiti.

The response from Nigerians within the last two weeks, he said, has been very encouraging as it further confirms that Nigerians are compassionate and generous people who care deeply about fellow humans, especially those who are in distress or are victims of unfortunate situations.

“As we promised at the commencement of the project, the proceeds will be presented on a monthly basis on behalf of the Nigerian people to the Nigerian Red Cross which is already on ground in Haiti via the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC),” he said.

Mr. Isa, therefore called on more Nigerians to get involved and donate as many times as they wish to the relief effort by sending multiple Short Messaging Service (SMS) at the cost of N50 per SMS.

“The method of donation has been made very simple as Nigerians only need to use their phones to make donations as many times as they wish,” he said.

Also, he noted the campaign was being run through the social networks such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter; while Classic 97.3 FM has continued to help raise awareness through daily free promos and hypes on the popular radio channel.

Daily Champion recalled that while announcing the commencement of the fundraising programme recently in Lagos, Glo’s Group Chief Operating Officer (GCOO), Mr. Mohamed Jameel said, the fundraising appeal was embarked upon in order to ensure that Nigerians had an opportunity to contribute their own quota to the salvage and rehabilitation effort launched globally for the people of Haiti.

Described as one of the most devastating natural disasters in recent human history and more massive in repercussion than the Asian tsunami, the Haitian earthquake disaster has seen almost total destruction of the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince and other major cities, the incapacitation of thousands of Haitians and the loss of at least 200,000 lives.


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