By Hauwa Ali
The staffs of one of Nigeria’s real estate investment and development firms, Palton Morgan, has marked its Customer Service Week in grand style with the staff of Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) stationed at Ajose Adeogun and Sanusi Fafunwa axis.
The staff of the real estate firm came out in their numbers and joined hands with the LAWMA personnel to clean their immediate environment in commemoration of the yearly Customer Service Week celebration, first week off October.
“Keeping in mind this year’s theme of “Celebrating Service,” we chose to honour LAWMA workers, those who clean the environment,” according to Director, Corporate Social Services, Palton Morgan Holdings, John Fanibuyan.
“Although, there are many services rendered by businesses in various sectors of the economy, we look at it from the perspective of these people providing services critical to the existence of human beings, the sustainability of the planet and earth.
“The highway managers that you see ensure that the dirt and waste that we litter do not pollute the ecosystem,” he said.
“Assuming you’re driving along the road because there are so much dirt, you see flies everywhere, rats roaming freely, human wastes on the road and so on; what kind of sight is that?” That is why we chose to honour these individuals,” he added.
Fanibuyan explained that what they’ hoped to accomplish by participating in cleaning up the environment was to demonstrate that Palton Morgan believes in leading by example.
He argued, “if you want to honour someone who does something essential in society, go along with them; and do what they’re doing, so, they know you’re walking your talk.”
Group Head, Customer Service, Palton Morgan Holdings, Adeyemi Adebambo, also spoke at the event, saying that they reached out to let them know that on that day the company would take responsibility for sweeping the streets, which they did successfully.
“Afterwards, we presented a gift to them as a token of appreciation for the services they provide to us, not only as a firm, but also to the state as a whole.”
Meshack Egbe, the supervisor for LAWMA at Ajose Adeogun and Sanusi Fafunwa streets, lauded the real estate firm after the sanitation exercise.
“This really shows that they value the work that LAWMA does because we see people pass by without really appreciating what we’re doing on the street a lot of the time.
“But joining us to clean the environment together shows that they notice us and appreciate what we’ve been doing all this time,” Egbe said.
Manager for LAWMA Service Workers stationed at Ajose Adeogun, Okebanjo Jumoke, added, “we were not expecting such a generous offer from them; this is the first time this year that a company has called to express their gratitude.
“In fact, I was astounded this morning to see their workers working alongside ours.
“I was also surprised to see all of the items that were donated to our workers; we appreciate it.”
Regarding the importance of celebrating the week, Bamidele said, “the reason we’re in business is because of our clients.” As part of the events, “we are commemorating our coworkers, who are our internal customers, as well as our customers, who have been patronising us and believing in our brand over the years.”
The yearly Customer Service Week celebration, which takes place during the first week of October each year, began 38 years ago as a time set aside to recognise and honours the work of workers in service organisations.
