Nigerian Philanthropist Tony Elumelu Donates $500,000 To Sierra Leone

by Mfonobong Nsehe

Nigerian banker and philan- thropist Tony Elumelu has donated $500,000 to Sierra Leone to help alleviate the suffering of people affected by flood and mudslide in the country.

Elumelu made the donation to Sierra Leonean President Ernest Bai Koroma on Wednesday during a visit to the West African country. Along with former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, Elumelu visited survivors at the Connaught Hospital, the principal adult referral hospital in Freetown, the country’s capital.

“I was deeply moved by what I witnessed today and have therefore donated $500,000 towards the rehabilitation & recovery efforts,” Elumelu said via his Twitter handle.

Elumelu called on other wealthy individuals and organizations around the world to support relief efforts in Sierra Leone. The Nigerian philanthropist also called the attention of international media to the Freetown floods and bemoaned the fact that the world’s major news organizations have not given significant media attention to the crisis.

“All lives whether on the African continent or else- where are the same and should attract the same media attention and human sympathy,” Elumelu said.

More than 3,000 people lost their homes in last week’s mudslide in Sierra Leone, which killed at least 499 peo- ple, with more than 600 still missing. There is still no precise figure on the total num- ber of victims.

Three years ago, Elumelu do- nated about $300,000 towards Ebola containment and relief across Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia.

forbes.com 

Posted by on Sep 14 2017. Filed under African News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

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