Chairman, Ikorodu-North LCDA

Executive Secretary, Local Government Education Authority, Mushin

Our Friends and Partners from the Media,

Bright pupils of our participating schools

Teachers, parents, my colleagues and well-wishers

I welcome you all sincerely to this important event. Indeed, this is a remarkable time for us at Nutricima, and we cannot thank you enough for identifying with our vision to provide and promote nutrition through milk consumption as a vital part of wellbeing of the Nigerian families.

We are gathered here as part of Nutricima’s activities to mark the 2012 World Milk Day. As you may be aware, the World Milk Day is celebrated annually on the 1^st of June across the globe. The celebration was initiated for the first time in Nigeria last year through the initiative of Nutricima L td.

The World Milk Day was designed by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), an arm of the United Nations, to increase awareness of the importance of milk consumption among the world populace; this inauguration was conducted across 199 member countries of the UN on the 1^st of June 2001.

It is imperative then to highlight the importance of quality nutrition in maintaining a healthy body and mind; as well as an active, productive life. Milk is an essential source of nutrition which is proven to be very key in delivering substantial levels of required daily nutrition to the body. Milk contains nine essential nutrients that are vital for an effective development of the mind and body; which is why its importance cannot be over-emphasized.

Nutricima Ltd being a visionary dairy company is again celebrating this year’s World Milk Day in the most unique way, with a week-long roll out of relevant activities to engage our teeming consumers. We are engaging in educating Nigerians, especially parents and children on the benefits of milk consumption which is the thrust of today’s event. We have four schools here to participate in a debate about the importance of milk to brain development.

Hereafter, on Tuesday 29^th May, we will treat our consumers and stakeholders to a boat cruise fun time; on Friday we plan to visit the state house to validate our support for various initiatives by Lagos state government in ensuring the wellbeing of its people; while underlining the role and importance of milk consumption to the children and families of Lagos state.

At Nutricima, we are geared to align with the Millennium Development Goals of the United Nations which relate to education, nutrition and sustenance of the environment to ensure health to mankind. As key partners, we are committed to achieving these goals with a wide range of products through our brands; namely: Nunu, Coast, Olympic, Bliss and Yo!.

Our vision is to provide high-quality, accessible products for the total well-being of our consumers; and it is in order to say that we are a leading organization within the industry in Nigeria through our innovative offerings since commencement of operation in 2005. In addition, outside the Nigerian borders, we have also become key players in other African countries, such as Ghana, Kenya, etc.

Currently, Nutricima has two  functional factories worth over 8billion naira. The first (powder and evaporated milk factory) was commissioned on October 22, 2005 while the second which is an ultra-modern ‘Ready to Drink’ factory was commissioned on August 18, 2009. These are pointers to our commitment to produce and distribute nutritional products with the aim of promoting sound health throughout the country and impacting consumption of future generation positively. As we join the rest of the world to celebrate this year’s World Milk Day, let’ bear in mind that it is indeed a toast to all our health and an opportunity for better health for you and I, all spearheaded by your number one partner, Nutricima. And we promise to continue in our innovative marketing approach, towards attaining total wellbeing for Nigerian families.

We enjoin the participating schools to give their very best as this debate is meant to foster the culture of reasoned discussion of issues; especially regarding the effective development of the body.

Once again, I thank you all for joining us. We wish all the participants success and ultimate well-being to all as you consume quality milk products from Nutricima.

Thank you and enjoy your day.

Wande Oluwasegunfunmi

Head of Marketing