Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu has lauded the efficacy of HelpNow, a social intervention platform deployed to support at least two million Lagosians through a crowdfunding model that rallies the support of well-meaning individuals and corporates.
Speaking at the launch on Thursday, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu said the effort was geared towards mitigating the debilitating effects of COVID-19 on the income and livelihoods of millions of households in Nigeria.
Sanwo-Olu said the role of technology in addressing the socio-economic challenges of the modern world was not only important, but also incontrovertible.
He said this consciousness was the reason why technology was a critical component of the T.H.E.M.E.S Agenda of his government.
Sanwo-Olu expressed satisfaction that the launch of HelpNow now provides a platform that aggregates support for government’s efforts at alleviating the suffering of the poor and vulnerable in our society.
“Government alone cannot address the socio-economic problems of any society. It needs the support of well-meaning individuals and corporate organisations to cater for the needy amongst us”.
“Before now, there was no platform such as HelpNow that allows effortless intervention in the lives of millions from anywhere and anonymously”.
Presenting the features of HelpNow,Mr. Yomi Adedeji, CEO of Softcom Limited,said the initiative was created to seek and provide help for a good number of vulnerable people amongst us, who are having challenges in providing for themselves and their families as result of the impacts of COVID-19.
According to him “we were inspired by the belief that while the Coronavirus pandemic affects everyone, the impact is not the same across board. As a result of the effects of this deadly virus and its restriction on economic activities, the vulnerable in our society will have challenges in catering for themselves and their families. And the ones that can survive this phase will need our help now to get back on their feet”.
‘It is for these reasons that Softcom Limited developed the HelpNow platform. We also worked with the Bank of Industry (BoI), the telcos, and LASG, to organize the records of vulnerable Nigerians in Lagos, covering people with disabilities, the poorest households, and the aged. This is to ensure that the target segment of the society we developed this initiative for is sufficiently reached”.
HelpNow is an initiative of Softcom, a company dedicated to connecting people and businesses through meaningful innovation.
The unveiling was in collaboration with private sector organisations such as Deloitte, MTN, Ernst & Young, Future Africa, Providus Bank, Sapphire Virtual Network, John Ashley Foundation, GTBank, Wildreams and Banwo & Ighodalo.
