Wassim Elhusseini urges media-corporate partnership for sustainable society

Wassim Elhusseini, Managing Director and CEO of Nestlé Nigeria PLC, urged corporate Nigeria and the media to forge stronger partnerships to address pressing societal challenges, such as food insecurity, climate change, and preventable diseases.

Speaking at the closing ceremony of the 2024 Cohort of Nestlé’s Advancing Nutrition, Health, and Environmental Awareness Through the Media Programme at Lagos Business School’s Sustainability Centre, Elhusseini emphasized the critical need for cross-sector collaboration to foster a healthier, more resilient society.

Reflecting on the initiative’s eight-year journey since its inception in 2018, Elhusseini noted that the program has evolved from a training platform into a vital space for dialogue and mutual growth. “Our vision was to promote informed public discourse on nutrition, health, and the environment.

Today, that vision is more urgent and achievable because of our media partnerships,” he said. He praised journalists as builders of public trust and enablers of action, commending their expertise and critical thinking.

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Elhusseini outlined five principles to guide future collaboration, stressing that interconnected challenges require united efforts across newsrooms and boardrooms. He advocated for data-driven journalism to tackle information overload, urging media professionals to “understand, demand, and use” data to illuminate issues like malnutrition and environmental degradation. He cautioned against misleading statistics, encouraging journalists to humanize data by connecting it to real-life experiences.

Highlighting Nestlé’s commitment to Creating Shared Value, Elhusseini welcomed media scrutiny, stating, “We expect you to hold institutions like ours to high standards.” He urged journalists to continue asking questions and building networks to drive sustainable change. “Progress is shared, or it isn’t progress at all,” he concluded, reinforcing Nestlé’s investment in programs that promote shared knowledge for societal well-being.