University students were abuzz social media as Nile Breweries Limited (NBL) launched a competition among universities dubbed Be Smart Drink Smart, Beera Mu Class on 1ST September, 2021 at Protea Hotel Kampala. The campaign is geared towards to promoting a culture of responsible drinking and reduction of the harmful use of alcohol among the youth and University students. The campaign will see students from select universities battling themselves in creative extravaganza spanning 8 weeks. “We aim to lead the industry in contributing to the reduction of the harmful use of alcohol. We believe in and share the WHO and UN Sustainable Development Goals’ ambition to reduce the harmful use of alcohol by 10% by 2025, this means that we have set ambitious Global Smart Drinking Goals for ourselves and initiatives to support them,” said David Valencia, MD NBL. “The Inter-Uni Smart Drinking Challenge, one of these, is aimed at influencing social norms and individual behaviours by challenging University students to submit the best ideas to encourage responsible behaviour among Youth,” he added.
NBL has invested Shs200M in the Beera Mu Class (Be Smart), which will see students compete in written, video, graphics and social media content forms to create winning concepts based on the theme Be Smart Drink Smart, Beera Mu Class. “We intend to create an interactive forum of champions of the behaviours and social norms that embody Smart Drinking in various universities in the country. We want to change lives together with our consumers such as the students,” said Onapito Ekomoloit, Legal & Corporate Affairs Director NBL. “For the start, we will be partnering with 5 universities which include Makerere University, Mbarara University of Science & Technology (MUST), Kampala International University (KIU), Soroti University & Kyambogo University,” he added.
The Guest of Honor, Mr Mondo Kyateka, Asst Youth & Children Ministry of Gender, Labour & Social development noted that Youth in Uganda are the youngest population in the world, with 77% of its population being under 25 years of age thus the change we need in our society can best come from them. “I challenge youth to be problem solvers. Such a campaign will stimulate the creativity of University students and go a long way to solve alcohol abuse in our society,” he said. “University students are at risk of substance abuse such as alcohol so this campaign is fitting,” he added.
According to Claire Asiimwe, the Project Manager, NBL through various CSR programs, Nile Breweries Limited has continued advocating for responsible consumption as well as supporting initiatives to formalize illicit alcohol in order to contribute to the reduction of harmful use of alcohol. “NBL’s Smart Drinking goals have over the years been delivered through partnerships, a set of programs and initiatives for instance, in bars activations, awareness campaigns in traditional media and social media, social behavioral change campaigns such as No Excuse, road safety programs among others,” she said. Jacob Musiimenta, the Guild President at Kampala International University also noted that as students, they were happy that Nile Breweries was not only minding about profit maximisation but also their customers wellbeing and consumption. “We are happy that a brand like Nile Breweries has thought about us university students in this campaign because many of us do not think about drinking smart when we go out,” Jacob continued. We believe that this campaign will change the mindset of many university students across Uganda.
To join and be a part of the challenge, students in the 5 partner Universities will dial *252*3# and follow prompts where they can submit their concepts in form of voice note, writing (not more than 300 words), video or art form. These will be subjected to the scrutiny by a team of competent judges. Through taking part in this challenge, students not only stand a chance to win UGX 3million in cash prizes but also exposure and opportunities to interact with their potential future employers.