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Tag: indigent

  • NGO empowers indigent Lagos residents

    Utin Destiny Achievers Foundation, a non-governmental organization based in Lagos State has empowered no fewer than 100 indigent residents in the state.

    The beneficiaries acquired multiple skills during the vocational training that lasted four days.

    The Chief Executive Officer and pastor of Life Transformation Pentecostal Ministry, Egbeda, Peter Utin,  said his passion to liberate the people from poverty compelled him to embark on the programme.

    He said:  “When I looked what the people are going through in the society, I had a burden in my heart to come out and assist them and that is what you are seeing us doing. I went through hard times in life and I don’t want others in that condition to continue in that circumstances. We want to put smiles on the faces of the people not only for today but for a lifetime.

    “We don’t have the vision of empowering our members alone because it would amount to selfishness which is unacceptable to God. We have a mandate to empower people across the country without minding their religious affiliations. There are so many Muslims among the people we empowered and we always make sure that everybody gets equal treatment because that is what God has called us to do.

    “We pasted posters across different local government areas and people that were interested applied for it and I was surprised that people came all the way from Ikorodu to participate in the programme. We had to provide accommodation for such participants all through the period the programme took place to save them the stress and cost of going and coming from their distant places of resident.”

    He added: “Aside from training them in various skills, we are also giving them seed capital to start their businesses. It is not enough to train people without giving them the financial support to take off. After giving them the financial assistance, we would be monitoring them to make sure that they did not divert the money into other things. When we see the progress they are making, we would give them additional funds to enlarge their businesses. We don’t have financial backing from anywhere.

    “This is not  one of the programmes that are organized annually. It is going to be either monthly or every two months because of our vision to empower huge number of indigent members of the society. We are planning to organize one for police officers’ wives in Lagos State between now and January. We are going to be organizing the programme across the 36 states in the country including the Federal Capital Territory FCT.”

    The beneficiaries expressed profound gratitude to the organization for deeming it fit to assist the less privilege in the society.

    “I am highly elated by the kind gesture of the church. It is heartwarming that they are spending their time and resources in helping people like us who have no hope of  getting assistance from anywhere,” Mary, a participant said.

  • Foundation splashes scholarships on indigent students

    Foundation splashes scholarships on indigent students

    Engineer Sunday Babalola Foundation (ESBF), has splashed N2 million worth of scholarships on about 102 indigent students of post primary and tertiary institutions of Omu-Aran, Irepodun Local Government Area of Kwara State.

    The award, which is the first of its kind, will be on a continuous basis, said Babalola, the founder of the foundation.

    Speaking during the presentation of cash and cheques to beneficiaries in Omu-Aran, Babalola, an engineer, said:”We are starting from this community (Omu-Aran, Irepodun Local Government), later to other local governments. If we can, we will extend it to the state level.  Good students were selected by their principals, they applied and were interviewed.”

    He used the occasion to call on corporate bodies, donors, philanthropists and humanitarian organisations to advance education in Nigeria through improved investment.

    “The award of scholarship to students of secondary and tertiary institutions is for me a fulfillment of my dream and desire to contribute my quota to the educational advancement and upliftment of students in my locality.

    “It is a truism that education growth is the springboard for societal advancement. So the falling standard of education in the country causes my heart to bleed. Gone appears to have been the days when students took interest in academic competitions. Many of them are today engrossed with internet and video pornography to the detriment of their educational growth.

    “Many of them have, therefore, become willing tools for insurgency, kidnapping, armed robbery and other violent crimes and so become threats to societal peace and wellbeing,” he said.

     

  • Ondo chief pledges bursaries to indigent students even after death

    Ondo chief pledges bursaries to indigent students even after death

    An Ondo high chief and foremost philanthropist Dr Olabanji Akingbule has said that his annual programme of awarding bursaries and scholarships to indigent students of Ondo state origin would be sustained even after his death.

    Speaking during the annual public lecture and award ceremony held recently in Ondo to celebrate his 89th birthday, the Odunwo of Ondo Kingdom, said that even after his demise, the initiative would be sustained with the income from his estate and the shares he owns in Nigeria Breweries Plc.

    High Chief Akingbule has given over 1,700 bursary awards to indigent students of Ondo State origin in the last 17 years,

    He said: “To whom much is given, much is expected. I thank God for giving me the grace to pay back Ondo kingdom in several folds. Since I was a student in United Kingdom, I and my colleagues founded the Ondo Division Students (Association) and we do send money home for our schools to buy books in 1962. I started the scholarship at All Saint Anglican Church Ogbonkowo, Ondo before I formally instituted a full blown foundation about 17 years ago”.

    Decrying the level of unemployment in the country and the hardship many students go through to study, Chief Akingbule urged people of means to tow the same line of philanthropy he has taken to help the needy.

    His words:”Our graduates have been coming out from their various citadel of learning without jobs, while the government cannot employ all graduates, the necessity to engage them in large number will go a long way in reducing socio-adolescent crimes that plague our society and the nation in general”

    He added: “Each year through the foundation I give an average of N3.6 million to hundred brilliant but indigent students across Ondo State. I have built lecture theatres at Adeyemi College of Education, Ondo and Wesley University of Technology, Ondo and my Alma Mata Ondo Boys High School; this is apart from numerous charitable donations to the needy in the society.”

    At the ceremony, the list of the successful students for the 2014/2015 edition of High Chief Akingbule’s annual programme was unveiled. It comprises of 32 tertiary institution awardees, four concessionary awardees, and 62 secondary school awardees.

    The breakdown shows that 32 awards of N50,000 were given to each deserving university students, while three awards of N40,000 each were given to NCE students.

    Four concessionary awards of N30,000 each was given to handicapped students, while 62 awards were given to each ýsuccessful secondary school students.

    The High Chief was hailed for his initiative and love for youth development. Saluting his philanthropy, the Afenifere leader in Nigeria and Diapora, Chief Reuben Fasoranti expressed awe that a single person could contribute immensely to the development of education.

    He said: “Although I am not surprised because he is a product of scholarship himself. This is a noble idea that has grown wide and so many poor students have benefited in the past and presently. Indeed, you are a blessing to Ondo State and Nigeria at large”

    Similarly, ýthe guest lecturer, a renowned legal practitioner, Barr. Dele Adesina ýthanked Akingbule for living up to his divine purpose and for setting up the heroic, pace-setting initiative.

    His words:” it is no doubt a worthy and visionary legacy. I believe it is not that this great man of Ondo kingdom has nothing to do with his money. No, of course, there are inexhaustible things that are daily competing for his financial attention. However, the desire to contribute to the task of sensitising our nation in order for it to achieve its full potentials in all ramifications, the desire to serve this community and it’s people in particular and the desire to change the society in general for the better must have informed this great idea”

    Shortly after his lecture, two distinguished individuals were given awards worth N100,000. They are the immediate past provost of Adeyemi College of Education, Prof Idowu Adeyemi and the Iyalode of Ondo Kingdom, Chief Mrs Olufunke Iluyemi, while two others, namely, the founder, Country Women Association of Nigeria (COWAN), Late Chief Bisi Ogunleye and Late Canon Moses Adeyemi were also given posthumous awards in the same worth.

  • Indigent parents require N3m to save boy’s life

    Indigent parents require N3m to save boy’s life

    With indigent parents, who can barely feed, eight-month-old Emmanuel, who is battling hole-in-the-heart ailment, faces a bleak future. He requires N3million for treatment, an amount which his parents cannot afford.

    His father, Henry Mekwunye is a casual worker; the mother, Oluchi, a petty trader.

    Emmanuel was diagnosed of the ailment at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja, Lagos, on June 14 following an x-ray after he developed sudden cough.

    With her hands resting on her bosom, Mrs Mekwunye looked hopeless as she sat on the bed where her son was laid at the hospital yesterday. She watched how her son was being drip-fed instead of breast feeding him. “Life has not been fair to me,” she said, sighing.

    On June 13, it was discovered that Emmanuel had a cough and he was taken to a neighbouring pharmacy for first-aid medication.

    His father, who said the family thought it was a minor thing because they had always taken the boy’s health seriously, added that they were forced to take him to a private hospital when the symptoms persisted.

    After examining him at the hospital, the baby was referred to LASUTH, where series of tests were conducted.

    A chest x-ray exposed the hole in the boy’s heart which is known in medical parlance as Tetralogy of Fallot.

    “I was destabilised when it came to my knowledge that my son was going through such pains. And sadly, he could not talk to explain the extent of the pains.” Mekwunye said.

    Emmanuel has  been on oxygen for eight weeks to aid his breathing.

    The consultant in charge of the Department of Paediatrics at LASUTH, Dr Barakat Animashaun, has assured the family that Emmanuel’s ailment is curable.

    Since the hospital lacks the facility for the surgery, it was agreed that Emmanuel should be taken to Rak Hospital in Ras al-khaimh, United Arab Emirates (UAE) for the treatment, which would cost N3million.

    Mrs Mekwunye burst into tears as she bemoaned her family’s helplessness: “I know if my son is not treated with utmost urgency, it may affect other organs in his body system. He has rapidly lost weight, his tongue and lips have turned black. Each time he coughs, he throws up. I have no job, let alone bank savings. How are we going to raise such amount of money since we have nothing to put on sale? And my only child is my life; God, please help me,” she said.

    Mekwunye is an employee of a chemical company in Lagos struggling to make ends meet. Sources said the family has been surviving with God’s grace.

    The family is looking up to well-meaning Nigerians, government and non-governmental organisations for help.

    The family has an account with Access Bank Plc, No: 0690421712 and First Bank, 3085435732, under the name: Emmanuel Obinna Mekwunye.

  • Council lifts indigent pupils

    Council lifts indigent pupils

    To rescue indigent youths and improve the standard education in his domain, the Chairman, Apapa Local Government, Hon. Ayodeji Joseph, has donated 100 General Certificate of Education (GCE) forms to beneficiaries in the area.

    At the presentation, Joseph, who distributed the forms to beneficiaries from the five wards in the council area, urged them to make use of the opportunity.

    He also admonished the pupils to concentrate on their academic pursuits, stressing that “the only anti-dote to poverty is education.”

    The council boss added: “A good name is better than silver and gold. Nothing can be achieved without education. Illegal acts such as cultism, absenteeism, truancy and lack of concentration are factors hampering the educational development in our nation.”

    Urging the beneficiaries to attend the tutorial classes organised by the council, Joseph expressed optimism that the effort would yield good results in their academic endeavours.

    The council chairman also warned them to eschew acts that are inimical to their personal living and the advancement of a sane society, noting that they have roles to play in ensuring a healthy environment.

  • Lifeline for the indigent

    The Interim National Legal Adviser of All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Principal Associate of M. A. Banire and Associates, Dr Muiz Banire, presented this year’s edition of The Blue Book , a law journal, in Lagos. TAJUDEEN ADEBANJO was there

    For indigent students of the Nigerian Law School, their worry is over.

    A God-sent helper is ready to dole out millions of naira to assist the would-be lawyers to complete their mandatory Law School programme.

    The proceeds of the public presentation of The Blue Book 2013, a law journal to be channelled towards assisting the students.

    The book was written by the Interim National Legal Adviser of All Progressives Congress (APC) and Principal Associate of M.A. Banire and Associates, Dr Muiz Adeyemi Banire, in collaboration with Osun State Commissioner for Special Duties and Regional Planning, Ajibola Basiru and Kunle Adegoke.

    Though devoid of a large crowd expected at events of such personality, the few who came were big wigs in the legal and political sectors.

    It was a day a lawyer took charge of proceedings with judges taking orders from him.

    Judges and lawyers shared jokes and threw banters.

    Many were in the traditional lawyers’ outfits of wig and gown; a few politicians and two traditional rulers went for native attires.

    Oba Rilwan Akiolu made a grand entry, enlivening the gathering.

    His intermittent interjections evoked laughter from the audience. Even when he kept quiet, the former police chief’s gestures were funny.

    Activist lawyer Mr Femi Falana (SAN) joined him in making the event comic.

    After prayers, the event began in earnest.

    Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola (SAN), represented by his Attorney-General and Commissioner of Justice Ade Ipaye, Oba Akiolu, Falana and some justices of the Court of Appeal were full of praises for Banire for his “giant legal strides”.

    Fashola said Nigeria and Lagos in particular were lucky to have M.A. Banire Chamber, which has continued to provide useful materials to guide the courts.

    Oba Akiolu described the book as educative and informative.

    “The book will open many issues that would aid administering of justice in the country. I strongly recommend it to everybody including people who are not in the legal profession,” he said.

    To Falana, the book is a wonderful intervention by the author. He also described the co-authors, Basiru and Adegoke as brilliant lawyers.

    “They (Basiru and Adegoke), he recalled, were expelled from the University of Ilorin (UNILORIN) and University of Lagos (UNILAG) not because they engaged in cultism rather due to aluta and we defended them probono. I am not surprised that they are donating the proceeds from the book to aid indigent students of Law School.”

    On the book, Falana said: “The book has simplified the rules of our courts in a way that we can promote the justice system; it has simplified access to justice. This will be very useful to our judges including those at the Court of Appeal and for me that is very commendable.”

    He urged judges to “interpret our laws so that justice can ooze out of our courts and what the authors have done is to ensure that access to justice is made simpler. If you are familiar with the book, you are sure of getting your law properly interpreted by the court. What the justices at the Appeal Courts have said today is that the book has been very useful and handy to them in navigating difficult areas of the law.”

    Justice Sidi Bage of the Court of Appeal, Lagos and Justice Helen Ogunwumiju, Presiding Judge of Court of Appeal, Benin Division, showered encomiums on Banire, saying the book has aided their judgments delivery.

    According to Justice Ogunwumiju, any judge that is grounded in civil procedure will escape harassment from lawyers in court, hence, the importance of The Blue Book.

    Earlier in his remark, Banire said the book is to supplement efforts of judges by providing opinions which have been found quite relevant in interpreting the law.

    Experiences, he said, have shown different interpretations on the same rules by the court, making stare decisis a principle rather difficult to implement.

    “The Blue Book is our modest contribution to enrich the fountain of justice from which we all, whether as litigants, counsel or judge, must always drink. Where the fountain is polluted, it is certain that none shall savour the stench emanating therefrom; hence, the need to preserve our source of livelihood and a great means of maintaining peace in the society,” he said.

    The book reviewer, Mr Kemi Pinheiro (SAN), hailed the authors for an in-depth annotation of the 2012 rules.

    “The Blue Book 2013 provides further evidence that the writer’s quill never goes dry. Those close to Dr Muiz Banire will no doubt be unsurprised that the Notary Public and erudite legal scholar still found time out of his herculean schedule in politics and the robust practise of law to co-author this trail-blazing book,” he said.

    According to Pinheiro, the book has taken giant strides forward and easily stands out as the Nigerian pre-eminent equivalent of the Blue Book which is used in majority of US Federal Courts and The White Book 2013 which provides updated commentary on the English civil procedure rules and the 2013 amendments thereto.

    Before his departure, Oba Akiolu was joined by Oyo State Deputy Governor Otunba Alake Adeyemo, Falana, Justice Phillips, Banire, Basiru, Adegoke and Elegushi of Ikateland Oba Saheed Elegushi to unveil the book.

    Justice Akeem Olatunde Oshodi gave the closing prayer.

  • 127 indigent students get scholarship

    No fewer than 127 students from poor backgrounds have been given scholarship in Awka, the Anambra State capital, by a group known as Ambassador’s Club.

    The club said its decision to help the students was inspired by the developmental strides of Anambra State Governor Peter Obi, with whom the group said it was in talks to build a recreational club in the city.

    This was made known in the state capital when the member representing Awka South I, Hon Kenechukwu Chukwuemeka, of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) hosted the club members.

    The chairman of the club, Collins Ben Iloanya told reporters that the discussion with Governor Obi for the provision of land for the project had reached advanced stages.

    He said: “We want to build a legacy in this town for the future generation and that is also why we have been giving scholarships to indigent students up to university level.

    “Presently, we are building a hall in the town worth N500m, so what we want is a place where people can go, look around  and enjoy themselves especially during festive periods.

    “The club has respected members of the society as its patrons like Sen. Ben Ndi Obi, Lt-Gen. Isaac Obiakor (retd), among others,” Iloanya said.

    Furthermore, he said that the Ambassadors had spent more than N50 million in the scholarship scheme, adding that they want to extend it to other states in the near future.

    Also speaking, the state coordinator of Transform Nigeria Movement, Comrade Obi Ochije told reporters that what they are doing is in line with the policy of the Obi administration in developing the state.

    He said, “All hands are on deck to give Awka capital city a facelift and moreover, the less privileged people in the society will not be left out and not only indigent students but also the widows’’.

    The ACN lawmaker, Hon Kenechukwu Chukwuemeka, told reporters that the aim of the 22-year-old club is to bring enduring peace and unity not only in Awka but the entire Anambra State.

    “I am interested in peace, unity and development of this town; since our childhood days, we have never had it so good like this for like-minds coming together to lift the city,” the lawmaker said.

     

  • Don seeks support for indigent students

    Don seeks support for indigent students

    To mitigate the impact of indigence on the education of the girl child, a professor of ophthalmology, Prof Ajesola Majekodunmi has urged public-spirited Nigerians to support her foundation to sponsor more female students.

    Speaking last Thursday when the Ajesola Solarin Majekodunmi Foundation (ASMAF) presented scholarships to three female undergraduates at the Julius Berger Auditorium, University of Lagos (UNILAG), Prof Majekodunmi was worried that those too poor to afford education tend would go astray.

    She said from her interactions with young females over the years, she had noticed that the indigent ones amongst them have complex and lack confidence in themselves – with many doing unethical things to survive and improve themselves.

    Making a case for financial support for such category of students, Prof Majekodunmi said: “In developing countries such as Nigeria, economic dependence is one of the road blocks to success. It is worse with women. Education is one of the medicines for the treatment of poverty and economic dependence.

    “Those of us who had parents that trained us through our professional courses or had government scholarships, often take things for granted and may not understand what the indigent students undergo.”

    She said having benefited from scholarship at all levels of education on merit, she decided to give back to the society.

    “My thinking changed from what can my country do for me to what I can do for my country? The answer to my question is the birth of ASMAF in 2009.

    She said after screening online applications from students from universities across Nigeria, each year, three of them are offered the scholarship. Each awardee gets direct N150, 000 for academics and additional N50, 000 for training in leadership programmes. Scholarship awardees are also attached to notable female professionals in their various fields of studies as mentors.

    The award winners were Rukayat Odubanjo 500-Level Mechanical Engineering, University of Lagos; Aderiola Adebanke Opemipo, 400-Level Medicine, Lagos State University; and Nwojiji Blessing Ogechi 200-Level Chemical Engineering, Federal University of Technology Minna, Niger State.

    In an interview, beneficiary of the 2010/2011 edition of the scholarship, Agnes Usolor, a 400-Level Law student of UNILAG, praised ASMAF for intervening in her life and others, urging them to give back in future.

     

    “I hereby use this opportunity advice the past and present winners that have benefitted from ASMAF not to forget this great thing they have done in our life, therefore when they are out of universities they should support this great programme.

     

  • Lagos to provide lawyers for the indigent during weekends

    The Lagos State government has promised to provide lawyers for defendants who have cases to answer in magistrates’ courts during weekends.

    The Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr Ade Ipaye, said in a statement on criminal justice administration issued in Lagos that arrangements have been made to provide counsels from the Directorate for Citizens’ Rights and Office of Public Defender (OPD) free to those who might need their services.

    Ipaye explained that the move is in furtherance of the state government’s policy of enlarging access to justice and ensuring service delivery at points of public need.

    “At least one court will be open for business on Saturday in every one of the seven Magisterial Districts of Lagos State to ensure that the machinery of justice is not concentrated in one part of the State at the expense of other locations.

    “Thus as from the commencement of this programme, there will be at least a Court sitting at each of the seven Magisterial District in Lagos. When the Courts sit on Saturdays, they have their full jurisdictional powers and can, among other things, hear matters relating to remand, bail and other non-custodial disposition.

    “You may recall in 2009, this administration enacted the Lagos State Magistrate Court Law No. 16 of 2009”, he said.

    The Justice commissioner remarked that one of the innovative provisions of the Lagos State Magistrate Court Law No. 16 of 2009 is the authorisation of at least one Magisterial Court in every magisterial District to be opened and available for business on Saturdays, adding that the rules and operational guidelines for the implementation of this provision have been issued by the Chief Judge of Lagos State, Justice A. A. Phillips.

    He said this step was especially necessitated by the need to ensure that citizens are not deprived of their liberty unjustly and that suspects who were arrested by the Police on Fridays would no longer be denied bail and made to spend the weekend in Police or Prison custody with the excuse that they can only be arraigned in Court the following Monday.

    “The Saturday sitting of Magistrate Courts in Lagos State is therefore a practical demonstration of our government’s commitment to the promotion of law and order as well as protection of fundamental rights of the citizenry” he said.

    He, therefore, enjoined the people of Lagos to take advantage of this latest development in justice delivery and to continue to partner with the state in its efforts to maintain security, law and order.

     

  • Ex-minister chairs scheme for indigent students

    Ex-minister chairs scheme for indigent students

    The former Minister of State for Water Resources, Chief Precious Ngalale has been appointed as the chairman board of trustee Fast-track Development Initiative, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) responsible for the welfare of indigent students and youths empowerment in the state.

    Ngalele was appointed with Pastor George Izunwa, Dr Charles Numbere, Hon John Imegi and Dame Aleruchi Cookey-Gam, the administrator of greater Port Harcourt.

    Delivering the acceptance speech at the inauguration ceremony held in Le-Meridien, Hotel, Port Harcourt, Ngalale, who served during President Obasanjo’s first term, said he is delighted to be given the responsibility to cater for the indigent students in the state.

    He said: “I want to thank the initiator of Fast-track Development Initiative for the trust reposed in me. As a one-time minster of this great country, I have had the opportunity of touching the life of the youths and helping the indigent students. Today I have been given another opportunity to cater for indigent students.

    “The youths are suffering; the poor students are out of school and most of us are not happy about it. But one thing is certain we must be committed to the development of Rivers State and one of the ways to do that is to assist the indigent students,” he said.

    The former minister also noted during his speech that the best way to reduce crime and other social vices among the youths is by creating an avenue for youth’s empowerment. “If you want to reduce crime think of how to empower the youths,” he said.

    Responding on behalf of the organisation, its secretary, Mr Ineme-Awaji Okitumu John said they look up to Ngalale to provide leadership.

    “One of the objectives of our organisation is to ensure that indigent students and youths in the state who have nobody to assist them in life become what they wish to be through the NGO. We are happy that we got the right people to pilot the affairs of this organisation, especially by having a philanthropist in the person of Chief Precious Ngalale, to lead the board of trustee.”